Judge, Jury and Executioner
by TreeOfLife1997
Summary: Everyone has secrets... Everyone has a past they'd rather keep buried... Everyone has ghosts... Everyone has scars... But when a ghost from Jim's past comes knocking, his world is turned upside down. Someone is out for his blood. But can he bring himself to trust his crew, with the secrets of his past... Or will he try and out run this threat alone? Based after Into darkness.
1. Prolouge

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Prologue.

The year was 2246.

A fungus had infected and killed many of the crops grown on the planet Tarsus IV.

A colony of eight thousand people suddenly found themselves with little to no food and limited rations.

Or so Starfleet told the federation public.

Governor Kodos was in power at the time.

He came up with a plan.

He created two lists.

If your name was on the first list, you lived.

If your name was on the second list, you died.

Four thousand lived.

Four thousand died.

Well… Three thousands nine hundred and ninety-one colonists died in the massacre.

Nine children survived.

The oldest was fourteen.

The youngest was three.

Eleven colonists died in the months that followed the massacre, as Governor Kodos executed those who did not abide by his rules.

And so he gained the nickname 'The Executioner'.

Hundreds died in the riots and resulting fallout that happened when the colonies food supply became infected by the fungus.

Hundreds more starved to death.

But the nine children survived.

They became the known as 'The Tarsus Nine'.

The only ones to have seen Kodos face to face and live to tell the tale.

Once they had been recused they thought they were finally safe.

Maybe it was just an unfortunate act of fate…

Or something far worse.

One disappeared and believed to be dead.

One fell to their death in a tragic accident.

One was killed in a traffic collision, it was such a tragic accident.

One died of an incurable disease.

One drowned, again in a tragic accident.

One was killed after being in the wrong place at the wrong time, such a tragic accident.

One is alive and became one of the greatest research scientist alive to date.

One is alive and became an engineer aboard the USS Enterprise, the chief engineers second in command.

One is alive and became the Captain of the USS Enterprise.

It just seems strange that children who survived a massacre, could be killed so easily in accidents which were nothing compared to what they survived on Tarsus IV…

Kodos is dead, right…?

XxX

Hey, I hope you found the start of this story intriguing. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter One.

**A scream echoed through the house.**

**Someone one was yelling, but their voice was muffled by the walls.**

**It was a man yelling.**

**There was a crash and a single cry...**

**Then silence.**

_**Thud.**_

_**Thud.**_

_**Thud.**_

**The sound of footstep seemed to shake the ground and walls as they thundered through the house.**

**"He's going to kill us, Sam."**

_**Thud.**_

_**Thud.**_

_**Thud.**_

**"Don't worry, little brother, he won't find us."**

_**Thud.**_

_**Thud.**_

_**Thud.**_

**"But what if he does find us this time?"**

_**Thud.**_

_**Thud.**_

_**Thud.**_

**"He won't find us, James, I promise."**

_**Thud.**_

_**Thud.**_

_**Thud.**_

_**Slam.**_

**The walls shook as a door down the hall was slammed open with alarming force.**

**"COME OUT, COME OUT, WHERE EVER YOU ARE, YOU LITTLE BRATS!"**

_**Thud.**_

_**Thud.**_

_**Thud.**_

**"He's going to find us, Sam!"**

_**Thud.**_

_**Thud.**_

_**Thud.**_

**"He won't find us, he's never found us before."**

_**Thud.**_

_**Thud.**_

_**Thud.**_

_**Slam.**_

**"I SWEAR WHEN I FIND YOU, YOU LITTLE BRATS, YOU'RE GOING TO WISH YOU'D NEVER BEEN BORN!"**

_**Thud.**_

_**Thud.**_

_**Thud.**_

_**Slam.**_

**"Found you, you little brats!"**

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Jim gasped as he regained consciousness, he didn't remember falling asleep only to quickly realise he was chained up. As he struggles to regain his footing, he glances round.

He's in a prison cell.

The walls were made of solid stone and the cells' door was made from cast iron. Glancing up at the metal cuffs, which bound his wrists above his head, he saw they were hung from the ceiling of the cell, by thick metal chains. Jim twists his head to the side, in order to get a better look at the locks on the cuffs.

The Enterprise and her crew were half way through their five-year mission. They had encountered many planets and many had been hostile, so it shouldn't have been a surprise this one was too. And it seemed no matter how peaceful or hostile the planet seemed, Jim always got injured or captured or held hostage or simply got separated from the group.

Murphy's law was a bitch, Jim decides.

Jim smiles at the thought. He was sure one of these days Bones was going to have a heart attack. The number of injuries he had suffered would have been enough to drive any normal doctor to an early grave. He nearly died at least once a month, he was sure he was allergic to everything that looked slightly nice. Bones had gone as far as threatening him that, if he so much as got a scratch whilst exploring the next planet they encountered, Jim would never be released from the medical bay.

But as far as Jim could tell, he hadn't been injured. He was guessing who ever had caught him had used some type of dart, all he remembered was a slight prick at his neck, then his world went black and he woke up in the cell he was currently being held in.

Knowing Bones though, that would be reason enough to keep him in medical for at least two days. But Jim could easily escape within a couple of hours, Bones may be wise to most of his tricks by now, but that didn't stop him coming up with new ones.

Jim eyes widen suddenly.

He been leading the away team that had beamed down for the mission.

Due to the unknown nature of the planet, Spock and Bones had both stayed on the Enterprise. But Scotty and Uhura had been with him, along with a handful of red shirts. Their aim had been to see if they could find any natives and try to communicate with them.

But the planet also had some large unknown power source, hence why Scotty had been dragged along, quite literally, as he had been adamant that he stay on the ship to oversee some repairs which were taking place in engineering.

Jim was the only one in the cell though, which could mean the away were all being held in different cells or he had been the only one caught. Jim refused to believe it was because he was the only one still alive, or the only one not being tortured or some other horrible fate.

If he was to have any hope of finding the rest of the away team, he'd have to get out of the cell. He always prided himself on being quite the escape artist, there weren't many things which could hold him prisoner for long, he always found a way out eventually.

Jim rolls his eyes, it was just his luck.

His knife and lock picks were hidden in his boots. He always hid them there, ever since Tarsus IV. But with his hands chained above his head, he had no chance of reaching them, even if he was capable of the most complex of yoga moves.

Glancing round the cell, he looked for anything that could aid him in his escape... After all there were no such thing as no win scenarios.

Suddenly the cell door was thrown open with a mighty clang and Jim flinches slightly at the noise, he hadn't heard anyone approach the cell. Four men stand there, masks covering their faces… As for their uniforms, Jim was sure he'd seen them somewhere before.

Three of the four men march forward. One unlocks the cuffs and the other two grab his arms and drag him from the cell. Jim winces slightly at the tightness of their grip, but doesn't fight them. He had to choose the perfect moment, or he'd be killed or badly hurt before he has the chance to escape.

Plus there are four of them and one of him and they had weapons. Not the best odds he'd admit, but Jim had been in worse fights, with worse odds and came out the victor. As he's dragged along, Jim glances round, trying to see if he can find any traces of the rest of the away team.

Somewhere ahead of them, there's a scream.

Without so much as a thought, Jim twists out of the men's grip and quickly sends them crashing into each other, with a sickening crack. He quickly doges the first punch sent his way and kicks the man's knee, crippling him and he collapses to the ground with a pained moan.

A second attack comes from behind, knocking him to the floor, but Jim quickly rolls back on to his feet and once he is, the attacker doesn't last long. Jim takes him out on a couple of well-placed hits and leaves the four men in varying states of consciousness on the floor.

Jim quickly runs, heading towards where the scream had sounded from. As he skids to a halt, he looks round, getting the feeling he's just run into a trap. There's only one door at the far end of the corridor and behind him, he can hear the sound of more men approaching.

Rolling his eyes, he kneels down and draws his hunting knife from its hiding place in his boot, he's going to have to take his chance with the door and whatever fate is waiting for him on the other side.

Picking up his pace, Jim approaches the door, ready to attack whoever or whatever is waiting for him. There are yells and shouts behind him, but no one has entered the corridor yet, but it was only a matter of time. He was only a couple of turns away from where he'd escaped the men who'd taken him from his cell.

Finally reaching the door, Jim can almost hear Bones in his head, ranting about how stupid what he's about to do is and Spock talking about how illogical this was and what his chances of making it out alive are.

Jim turns the handle and the door swings opens.

Standing in the middle of the room is a lone figure, with their back facing him. But Jim didn't need to see their face to know who it is. This was one person he'd never be able to forget and would always be able to recognise, no matter how much time had passed.

The person in the middle of the room slowly turns to face him.

"Hello, James," They greet. "Long time no see."

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**Sam quickly pushed his younger brother behind him as their step-father, Frank, forced open the door to the storage room they were hiding in. Frank stood in the middle of the doorway, his face was red with anger and rage. He held a broken beer bottle in one hand and his other was balled into a fist. **

**He reeked of alcohol and sweat.**

**James gripped his older brothers' arm in terror, his blue eyes wide with fear and his blond hair ruffled. **

**He'd never seen his step-father this drunk before.**

**This definitely wasn't the first time he'd beaten up their mum, when she was back from missions in space and then tried to hunt them down and beat them too; but this was the first time they'd been caught.**

**Frank grinned an evil grin at the two boys before him. His evil grin quickly turned into a smirk as he noticed the two boys push themselves back further against the wall. **

**As the older of the two, Sam was eleven years old and the younger James, was only seven. The two Kirk brats, as Frank often called them. He hated the two of them, he had only married their mother because if he hadn't, he would have been living on the streets. He spent all his credits buying alcohol and gambling. **

**He quickly advanced towards them. The broken bottle caught the light as he approached them and Sam couldn't help but gulp. **

**He had a choice. **

**He could protect his brother or he could run and leave his brother at the mercy of this... This monster! **

**The answer was simple. **

**Protect his brother, no matter what the cost.**

**"Listen carefully," Sam warned. "On my signal run. Run as fast as you can."**

**Behind him James nodded and muttered a weak yes.**

**As their step-father drew closer, Sam took a deep breath.**

**"NOW!" He suddenly yelled.**

**James ran and Frank in his drunken state, threw the beer bottle at the fleeing boy. Sam could only watch in horror as the drunken man's aim was spot on and it hit its target, there was no way a man as drunk as Frank should have been capable of that. **

**James cries out as the broken bottle ripped through his upper arm and blood gushed down his arm, staining his top and starting to form a pool on the floor, where he'd stopped running in pain.**

**"JAMES!" Sam yelled, running towards his younger brother.**

**He ducked under Frank's swing and grabbed his younger brother. He dragged him from the room, down the hall and stairs. He crashed through the front door and out into the yard. Spotting his fathers' car near the gate, Sam didn't hesitate. **

**He ran straight for the car. **

**He man handled his younger brother in to the passenger seat, who was barely conscious. Grabbing the rag often used to polish the car, Sam wraps it around James' wound and thanks god his mother had made him clean in earlier that day or the rag wouldn't have been there.**

**For once luck was on Sam's side, the keys were still in the car. Getting into the driver's seat, Sam started the car, Sam floored it and the car flies out the gate and down the dirt track. In the mirror, Sam saw Frank running after them, swaying as he does so.**

**"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BRATS!" He bellowed.**

**"Not a chance!" Sam muttered glancing at his younger brother. "Nobody hurts my baby brother and gets away with it."**

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Hey, hope you liked that chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Two.

**James lay on his side, curled up in a tight ball. His older brother had gotten him to the hospital just in time, but the doctors had to restart his heart three times. The amount of blood loss he had suffered had caused his heart to stop functioning three times! If Sam had gotten him there a minute or two later, he would have died.**

**Outside his hospital room, James could hear his brother and mother arguing. His mother had arrived only seconds ago and hadn't even made a move to come and see how he was yet. Instead she had gone straight over to Sam, who had been returning from talking to the doctor and slapped him incredibly hard across the face.**

**"How could you be so stupid?!" Winona yelled. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?! You may be tall for your age, but you can only just see over the top of the steering wheel!"**

**Sam rubbed his reddening cheek. As he pulled his hand away, he noticed the blood on his hand. Winona had been wearing a ring.**

**"What would you have had me do!?" Sam demanded. "Your asshole of a husband cut my baby brothers arm open with a broken beer bottle! I had to get him to a hospital and fast! For Christ sake, he almost died! Three times!"**

**"I don't care!" Winona screamed at him. "You could have crashed that car! You could have died!"**

**Sam took a step back. "You don't care? YOU DON'T CARE!"**

**Winona froze. "I... Of course I care."**

**"No! You don't!" Sam answered sadly. "You look at James and all you see is the ghost of the man you loved... All you see is the ghost of our father. You don't see James... You don't even look at him half the time!"**

**"I care about you," Winona tried to smile. "I care about both of you. You are my sons, how could I not love and care about you?"**

**"You don't love him!" Sam snapped. "When James was a baby, you didn't even hold him... I may have been young when dad died, but I remember you just left James crying in his crib. If our aunt hadn't offered her help, James would have died before he was even a year old!"**

**Winona stared at Sam. "You are too young to understand what it feels like... To lose the person you love the most, your father was my world, my everything… Life without him… You cannot even begin to understand what that is like."**

**Sam sneered at his mother. "You lost our dad, I understand that it was hard. But you abandoned James. He would have died because you refused to care for him!"**

**"One day you'll learn and you'll understand why I have done the things I have done, Sam." Winona answered.**

**"No," Sam snapped back. "I don't think I'll ever understand. Do you even know anything about James? Do you even know anything about me? Of course you don't! Do you know I passed my final biology exam five years early? Do you know James has an IQ higher than mine and he's only seven years old? No, of course you don't! Do you know James comes home from school every day, beaten black and blue, because the other kids think he's weird? Do you know I got kicked out of school for a month last year because I punched a teacher? No, of course you didn't! Because you're never here! And when you are here, you completely ignore me and James! You have no right to call yourself our mother! Why don't you go get lost back in space and do what you do best: pretend we don't exist?!"**

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Doctor McCoy run along the corridor towards the transporter room, his medical team only steps behind him. The landing party were being beamed up, all were unconscious and all were possibly injured. From what they had been told the landing party had been attacked, Scotty had only just been able to patch through a distress signal before becoming unresponsive.

Doctor McCoy cursed under his breath.

If Jim was injured, so help him god, Jim wouldn't be leaving the medical bay for a week! McCoy had been quite pleased with himself, when his last threat seemed to have worked. McCoy silently preyed Jim hadn't been injured, there was no way he could put up with having Jim in the medical bay forever! Jim drove him mad at the best of times.

As the medical team burst into the transporter room, Doctor McCoy's training takes over and he drops to his knees beside the first member of the away team he encounters. It's Uhura, she seems unharmed and only unconscious.

She only has a small wound to her neck, like someone had stabbed her with a needle. As the rest of the medical team checked over the rest of the away team, McCoy did a quick head count.

He froze.

"Where's Jim?" He demands, turning his gaze to the red shirt in charge of the transporter controls. "Where's the Captain!?"

"I don't know, sir." The red shirt answers, with panic in his eyes. "We beamed up all those at chief engineer Scott's location, sir."

"Damn it, Jim!" McCoy explodes.

"_Bridge to transporter room_." Spock's voice sounds through the intercom.

"Lieutenant Kevin Riley here, sir." The red shirt answers, causing McCoy to stare at him.

McCoy knew Kevin and Jim were close friends, they had known each other before they had joined Starfleet, but Jim had never told him where or when they meet. But it was clear they cared a great deal for each other... They often acted like brothers. Jim had even once called Kevin, 'the little brother he never had'.

_"Lieutenant Riley,_" Spock speaks. "_Is chief medical officer McCoy, present in the transporter room? I was unable to contact him in the medical bay."_

"I'm here, Spock." McCoy answers, before Kevin has a chance.

"_Doctor McCoy,_" Spock greets. "_What is the status of the landing party?"_

McCoy glares at the intercom. "All those _who were beamed aboard, _are currently unconscious and have suffered no serious injuries."

"_Those who were beamed aboard?" _Spock repeats. _"You are implying that not all members of the landing party were beamed up, doctor."_

"Yes, you green-blooded hobgoblin!" McCoy snaps. "The captain has failed to be beamed aboard."

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**Winona watched as her oldest son stormed off, all she could do was stand there and stare after him. **

**Sam was right. **

**She didn't know hardly anything about either of her sons. She didn't know how they were doing at school. She didn't know what hobbies they had or what their favourite food was. She didn't know hardly anything about them. They were her children and she was their mother, it was about time she lived up to that title.**

**Because Sam was right, when she returned to earth, she didn't care for James, she was too depressed and it scared her to know that if it wasn't for her sisters' kindness, James would have died. **

**Turning, Winona entered James' hospital room. She made her way over to where James was curled up on the biobed. She had missed the first seven years of her youngest sons' life, all because she failed to accept her husband's death.**

**"James?" Winona asked softly.**

**James slowly turned to face his mother and Winona couldn't help but feel sadness and regret, as the eyes that stared at her held no love or happiness. The eyes which looked at her, were the same as a strangers. **

**James didn't feel anything for her, she was a stranger to him, in all but name. Winona didn't bother to wipe away the tears which rolled down her cheeks, this was her fault.**

**"I'm so sorry James," She sobbed. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."**

**She reached forward and pulled James, her youngest son, into a hug. He was tense in her arms and that only made her cry harder.**

**"I promise you, James, I will try my hardest to right the wrongs I have done." She sobbed, as she clutched him tighter. "I love you and I'm sorry I haven't been there like a mother should. But I'll be there from now on, I promise I'll be there for you and your brother."**

**"You love me?" James asked quietly.**

**Winona nodded. "I love you, my son, and I always will."**

**James shook his head ever so slightly. "Then why did you leave us?"**

**"Because..." Winona started, taking a deep breath she continued. "Because I loved your father... When he died I couldn't... I just... You remind me so much of your father, you have his eyes. I couldn't look at you without being reminded of all I had lost... Sam is right, I looked at you and I all saw was the ghost of someone else. I'm sorry and I wish I could go back and change what I've done, but I can't. All I can do is try and repair the damage I've done."**

**"What about Frank?" James asked.**

**"Leave him to me," Winona answered, running her hand through her sons' hair. "I promise he'll never harm you again." **

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Hey, hope you liked that chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Three.

**James sat on the second step from the base of the stairs, his arms resting on his knees as he stared at the sight before him. In the hallway, by the front door, were three suitcases. **

**His mother was leaving. **

**She had been given a five year mission in deep space. **

**It had only been a year since she had promised him she'd be there for him and his brother, in that hospital room. Sam hadn't believed a word of it, he'd even told him not to believe it either. But James hadn't listened, he wanted to believe his mother would stay, that they could be a normal family. **

**At first it had been fine, great in fact. **

**Winona had returned home with them, she acted like any normal mother would and seemed happy. She had forced Frank to get his act together, threatening to get a divorce if he didn't. So Frank had stopped drinking, he'd stopped gambling too and had even started treating James and Sam like a father would and should.**

**He wasn't as angry anymore. **

**He didn't get mad at their mother and he didn't beat her or yell at her like he used to. Of course the tow of them still the odd argument, but it was over simple matters, like forgetting to put the bins out or to check the mail. **

**Due to his mother's praise and encouragement, James had gone up two grades at school in one year and was set to go up a third before the summer.** **Winona had even taken it upon herself to teach James basic hand-to-hand combat, so he wouldn't be such an easy target for the bullies who didn't like his intelligence and quick wit. **

**Frank had got a job. **

**He worked at a computer repairs shop in the city and had started to teach James some of the basics in his free time. It only took James a month or two before he could take apart a PADD and put it back together correctly. Sam still refused to be any part of it, claiming it would only end in tears.**

**And then slowly Winona seemed to distance herself from them and Frank began drinking again. James had found multiple beer bottles in the bin and could smell the scent of alcohol in the air, which seemed to hang around his step-father like a cloud. **

**Then Frank lost his job. **

**He began to drink more and more, he didn't even bother to try and hide it. He started smoking on occasion too, which annoyed the hell out of Winona, he started yelling again too. He started getting angry and slowly began turning violent once more.**

**Then came the orders from Starfleet.**

**Winona had a new mission. **

**Five years in deep space. **

**She had quickly accepted it with little to no hesitation, she hadn't even told her sons until the week before she was due to leave. James had been devastated and Sam had just snorted an 'I told you so'. Winona promised she'd stay in contact and that she'd be back for good as soon as the mission was over, but this time James didn't have the heart to believe her.**

**James took one last look at the suitcases before getting up and running up the stairs, two at a time. He crashed into his room and slammed the door behind him. He sat heavily on his bed and tried as hard as he could to keep his tears at bay. **

**His mother may not have been his mum for the first seven years of his life, but they had gotten closer... They were mending the broken bond. She was more like an aunt you see every holiday, but they were getting there.**

**But now, it all seemed pointless. **

**Sam was right, he should never have gotten his hopes up. But he'd been so happy. He'd finally gotten a family he'd always dreamed of. **

**A mum who was there. **

**A dad to teach him things.**

**An older brother to tease him, prank him and just have fun with, well Sam had always been there for him and James hoped and preyed he always would be. And now it was going back to what it was before. **

**A mother who was never there. **

**A step-father who didn't care and would sooner push him in front of a bus than save him. **

**And an older brother, who tried so hard to protect him, but could never quiet succeed. **

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_"Hello James," They greet. "Long time no see."_

The knife drops from Jim's hand and clutters to the floor. Taking a step back, Jim shakes his head. This was impossible, the person standing before him was dead and had been for a long time.

"Is this some kind of sick joke?!" He demands.

The person before him tilts their head to the side slightly and studies him.

"My appearance does not please you." They state, sounding surprised.

"What?" Jim questions, thrown off slightly by their statement.

The person before him frowns. "Why does my form not please you?"

Jim just stared at them for a moment.

"What do you mean 'form'?" He finally asks, deciding to play stupid in hopes of finding out more information. The person didn't appear hostile, but looks can and have been deceiving in the past.

"I chose this form," They answer. "It is from your past."

"Why?" Jim asks, edging forward and picking up his knife, not taking his eyes off the person before him for a second. "Why choose that form?"

"Because it is the form of someone you trust." They answers. "And trust is what I need."

"You need trust?" Jim questions. "Why do you need trust?"

"I do not need trust. I need you to trust me." The person answers.

Jim takes a step back. "And why should I trust you?"

"I was sent here, by an old friend of yours." The person answers. "They have some information you will need, if you are to win, but could not deliver it in person."

"Who?" Jim questions. "And what information?"

The person smiles. "I believe you know them by the name of Thomas Leighton. As for the information he asked me to give you, I do not know."

Before Jim has a chance to answer, there is a crash outside the doors to the room.

"You do not have much time," The person speaks. "You must take these and run, follow the passage hidden behind the mirror. Once you are clear of this building your ship will be able to beam you up."

Jim stares at the data cards the person was holding out to him. Very few people knew he knew Thomas Leighton and many of those people were no longer alive and those who were alive had every reason to want him dead. But the form this being had taken… Thomas and Kevin Riley were the only two living people who knew he knew them before they died.

Walking forward and taking the data cards, Jim nodes his thanks and runs.

On the far side of the room was a full length mirror and true to their word there was a passage behind it. Trusting someone blindly was not something Jim did often. He often leapt before looking, but placing blind faith in someone was not something he did. But he trusted Thomas and Kevin and they were the only two who could have possibly known...

... But then nothing is a secret, if you know where to look.

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**James hid in his room. **

**Frank had passed out on the floor downstairs and Sam had stayed at a friends after school. It had been a year since his mother left and like she promised, she stayed in contact. Everyday his PADD would light up with a new message or his comm would beep and he and his mother would talk for hours. **

**She had even sent him holo vids of some of the planets she had beamed down to.** **She sent him data on the species she had encountered and star maps of the different systems she had entered. James learned everything and studied everything, his mother sent him. And his mother would ask him about his day at school, and what he'd learnt since they had last spoke.**

**He was progressing through school so fast, his teachers couldn't keep up. James wanted to make his mother proud, so he learnt anything and everything. His high IQ simply meant he was learning at a much faster rate than most. **

**Plus locking himself in his room to escape Frank's anger, drunken yells and bellowing, meant he had little else to do but find information on his PADD. He'd learnt how to hack computers, not that his mother needed to know that, so gaining more information wasn't that hard. **

**He'd grab his old music player, put on his headphones and block out the world as he studied. It was his way of escaping from his home life. A way to get away from Frank and Sam yelling at each other, when Sam refused to do what Frank told him.**

**James ran home from school most days, not only to escape the bullies, but to get home before Frank started drinking. If he arrived home too late, he'd be Frank's target for empty beer bottles. He had ducked out the way so many times, simply entering the house made him flinch and duck down... Even when the house was empty and he knew no one was home.**

**Sam had started causing trouble at school. **

**He started picking fights and arguing with teachers. He started sneaking out of school and getting into trouble with the police, nothing serious though, just minor crimes like petty theft. His grades had started to drop, and James was set to pass him in grade, within the next year.**

**Of course he couldn't tell his mother any of this. **

**Frank had told him time and time again, that if he did tell his mother, he'd be a dead kid quicker than a blink of an eye. And when James pointed out that would be impossible, Frank had simply backhanded him and told him he was too smart for his own good and his smart-ass comments would only get him in to more trouble.**

**The only good thing was, Frank hadn't gotten truly violent yet. **

**He may throw the odd punch and give ether odd beating, but he usually drunk until he passed out, yell and throw beer bottles at the wall or James or Sam, if they happened to be passing. But he hadn't started hunting for him and Sam yet. Staying hidden in his room meant James didn't risk crossing paths with his step-father, he knew if he did, it would end badly.**

**Suddenly his comm beeped. **

**He was quick to pick it up. The caller ID showed it was his mother. James smiled a small smile and answered it.**

**"Hello, mum."**

**"James, sweetheart, how was your day?"**

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Hey, hope you liked that chapter. Next chapter will be up soon.

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Four.

**James stood in front of the mirror. **

**His body was covered in bruises and cuts. **

**The bullies at school had been hitting harder recently, or maybe he just felt it more because he was getting beaten at home too. He escaped Frank most days, but he'd already been caught twice this week. **

**He'd be kept behind at school, the school nurse had refused to let him return home until she had treated the injuries inflicted by the bullies, meaning he entered the house after Frank had started drinking and Frank was slowly getting more and more violent by the day.**

**Turning slightly, James studied his body more closely. **

**He was losing weight. **

**His ribs were beginning to show through his skin, the bruising made it harder to see, but his ribs were definitely starting to show. James knew Frank's drunken beatings were nothing but sloppy hits compared to the punches and kicks the bullies landed, but James would have taken the bullies beatings any day.**

**Frank's drunken punches may not hurt too badly, his words on the other hand, hurt far more than any punch or kick ever could. James could deal with physical pain, he'd been bullied form a young age. **

**He knew how to take a hit or two. **

**But the words and insults that Frank yelled at him... He couldn't and didn't know how to defend himself against them. Least with the hits and kick's he could try and fight back, not that it helped a great deal and he often did fight back.**

**But the words… They cut deep, creating mental wounds he didn't know how to heal. The bullies at school didn't have a brain cell between them, so their insults came in the form of beatings. But Frank... Frank was cleaver. He knew how to twist words to match his purpose. **

**He knew how to turn words into weapons. **

**Weapons James has no defence against.**

**Hearing a noise outside, James hurried over to his window. He was just in time to see Sam running across the yard. James shook his head, ever since their mother had left, the once close bond the two of them shared, had become strained. **

**Sam still looked out for his younger brother, he still wouldn't let anyone harm him and tried to protect him as he did before. If Sam ever found James being beaten by the bullies, he'd beat the crap out of them. **

**But James hadn't told Sam about Frank. **

**Sam caused enough trouble with Frank as it was, he didn't need another reason for Frank to yell at him. And Frank didn't so much as lay a hand on him, when Sam was home. But then Sam was at home less and less as the months passed, protecting his little brother was no longer the only thing he cared about.**

**Sam had changed. **

**He was getting into a lot more trouble at school and had been in trouble with the police more and more lately. He was hanging around with people who weren't the best of characters. He got into fights, this may be the twenty-third century, but there were still gangs and Sam was a part of them. **

**Turning away from the window, James collapsed to the floor.**

**His whole family was falling apart. **

**Winona still sent him messages, but as her missions got harder and more tiring, she had less time and less energy to talk with him. Sam was getting into all kinds of trouble and James knew if he got much deeper he'd never get out.**

**And Frank was just getting worse and worse and worse... It had been years since he'd last heard from his aunt and uncle, they sent him gift once a year, but that was all he ever received from them.**

**He was alone. **

**He was truly alone.**

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_"Yes, you green-blooded hobgoblin!" McCoy snaps. "The captain has failed to be beamed aboard."_

Spock stared at the intercom for a moment, as he sat in the captain's chair. His face held no emotion, but his eyes were filled with worry. It was a common occurrence that Jim went missing on away missions. There were more missions were things went wrong, than missions were things went right, when it came to unidentified planets.

The only consolation was Jim found a way to make everything go in his favour and work out in the end, even when he was up against almost impossible odds. It was a talent unlike any other Spock had encountered in the past, it was truly unique.

It wasn't that Jim had bad luck, it was just that he put everyone else before himself. Putting himself in danger to ensure the safety of others and the crew respected him for that, he had saved all their lives more than once, by endangering himself to save them.

But it simply made Spock's job as first officer all the more harder.

He was supposed to protect the captain and make sure he was always fit for duty, to make sure he was as safe as possible at all times and not in danger. Of course Jim was always telling him not to worry and that he didn't need 'babysitting'.

The current bridge crew had fallen silent and most were sharing worried glances. According to the sensors, all the landing party had been in the same location and there was currently no signs of life on the planet's surface

"Lieutenant Sulu," Spock commands. "Check the circuits for any malfunctions which could have caused an error in the transporter system."

Sulu is quick to follow the order, checking the control panel in front of him.

"All systems are functioning normally, Commander, no errors reported or found." Sulu answers.

"Ze sensors show no signs of life on ze planet surface," Chekov speaks up. "Zere ees no sign of ze Keptain."

Spock eyebrows draw together, as he quickly gets up from the chair and makes his way over to the science station. As Chekov said, there were no life signs of life on the planet's surface.

"Fascinating." Spock mutters.

"Fascinating?!" A voice behind him demands. "Jim has vanished into thin air and you find it _fascinating_?!"

Spock straightens and turns to face McCoy, who had just stepped out the turbo lift and on to the bridge.

"For Jim to have, as you put it: 'vanished into thin air', would be-"

"You know what I mean, Spock." McCoy growls, cutting him off.

"Is it not your job to be treating those who were beamed up, doctor?" Spock questions, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

McCoy glares at Spock.

"I'm the Chief Medical Officer." McCoy snaps. "My priority is the captain. And as we don't know where Jim is, I am better off staying here. Senior Nurse Chapel and Doctor M'Benga will inform me of any changes, if and when they happen."

"Sir," Sulu speaks up. "The unidentified power source on the planet's surface has increased in energy levels."

Spock quickly turns back to the science station and studies the change in energy levels.

"Fascinating." Spock repeats.

"Care to share with the class?" McCoy questions slightly sarcastically, when it becomes clear Spock isn't going to say anymore.

"It appears-" Spock begins, but is cut off by an alarm sounding.

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**"You're worthless, you hear me?" Frank yelled. "What are you?"**

**"Worthless." James answered, from where he is pinned to the wall by Frank.**

**"What are you?" Frank demanded again, anger shone in his eyes.**

**"I'm worthless, sir." James answered, flinching as Frank leaned in closer to him.**

**"And don't you ever forget it." Frank sneered.**

**James flinched again slightly, trying to distance himself from Frank the best he could.**

**"You'll never achieve anything," Frank spat out. "Nobody likes a know-it-all and nobody likes you!"**

**James nodded in agreement, hoping this would end quickly.**

**"You're useless!" Frank suddenly threw him to the floor. "No wonder your damn mother left, she can't stand the sight of you!"**

**James gulped slightly, not daring to even remind Frank he and his mother still stayed in contact. Winona called him as often as she could and when she couldn't call, she sent a message whenever she had the time.**

**"Your father was a great man. And you'll never be like him." Frank laughed. "Your father was a brave man, you're nothing but a pathetic coward."**

**James focused on the floor below him, it had been his ninth birthday only a couple of weeks ago.**

**He wasn't the coward. **

**Frank was. **

**But James didn't dare voice his thoughts on Frank being so much of a coward, he could only beat a child. He knew if he opened his mouth and spoke, he'd have hell to pay. Well more than he already was paying.**

**"Get away from him!" A voice from the doorway growled.**

**James knew that voice. **

**It was Sam.**

**Frank laughed. **

**"Look what the cat dragged in," Frank sneered. "The other useless, worthless, ungrateful Kirk brat!"**

**Turning Frank kicked James in the gut without warning, causing James to curl up into a ball with a pained cry. Sam charged at Frank, shoving him backwards. In Frank's semi drunken state, he stumbled backwards and crashed to the floor, as he lost his balance. His head hit the floor with a crack and he was knocked out cold.**

**Rushing over to James, Sam knelt on the floor beside his younger brother and griped his shoulder lightly.**

**"Oh, James," He muttered, as his younger brother groaned slightly in pain. "Why didn't you tell me it had gotten this bad?"**

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Hey, hope you enjoyed reading that chapter. I struggled with trying to get Chekov's accent correct, I hope I didn't do too badly. If you have any trips on making the accent better, please let me know, thanks,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter five.

**Sam watched his younger brother, who was quickly eating the food Sam had smuggled up the stairs for him. **

**Frank was in a bad mood tonight, a really bad mood. So when Jim had returned home from school, with a fresh collection of bruises from the school bullies, Frank had decided James wasn't going to get any food that night and had thrown a beer bottle at him for good measure.**

**Sam winced slightly in sympathy, at the sight of the cut on James' forehead. **

**One of the broken pieces of glass had sliced his forehead, after it had shattered against the wall. The cut wasn't deep and Sam had been able to treat it with ease, it just looked painful. Of course James didn't complain, he never did... Well not anymore, both of them were far too used to it by now.**

**It was sad really, no child should ever grow used to such abuse.**

**Both were now experts at lying to the teachers, who simply nodded and told them to be more careful in the future, whenever they explained how they had gained the hard to hide injuries. **

**Of course Frank was careful most of the time, hitting in places that could easily be hidden and covered. This cut could be explained easily enough, but the two of them were slowly running out of reasons for the injuries the teachers saw.**

**"Don't eat so fast," Sam grinned. "You'll get hiccups."**

**James looked up at his older brother, frowning slightly. **

**"Do you want some?" He asked, offering some of the food that was left.**

**Sam shook his head. "I ate before I left Aurelan's house."**

**James nodded. "Thank you."**

**"Don't mention it, little brother." Sam replied, reaching forward and ruffling James' hair.**

**James batted Sam's hand away and glared at his older brother, which caused him to laugh.**

**"Don't ever change, little brother." Sam grinned, shaking his head slightly.**

**"What do you mean?" James asked, picking up the next bit of food.**

**"You're destined for great stuff, little brother," Sam smiled. "You're willing to sacrifice what you have for the sake of another, that's the mark of great soul."**

**"Are you high?" James asked, giving his brother an odd look.**

**"I've taught you well," Sam laughed reaching forward and ruffling James' hair once more. "But no... I'm simply trying to give you some advice for the future... I haven't been the best behaved kid in school, I've messed with the wrong people. **

"**I'm in a lot of trouble, little brother... Anything could happen. I just wanted to know... Well, know to the best of my ability, that you'll go far in life. That you'll survive when I can't protect you. It's my job, as your older brother, to protect you and I've messed up. I don't want you to pay the price for that."**

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Running as fast as he could, Jim sprints through the dense undergrowth.

Behind him, he could hear the yells of the people chasing him. He had a head start, a good five minutes head start, but he had no idea where he was going. All he knew was he had to get back to the beam up sight, if he was to have any hope of getting back to the Enterprise in one piece.

Ducking under a branch, Jim stops for a second and glances round. It was almost impossible to tell which way was which. Shaking his head and choosing a random direction leading away from the people chasing him, Jim sets off running once more.

He could feel his muscles burning, he'd been running for what seemed like forever now and he was no closer to finding the beam up sight than he had been when he first escaped. To make matters worse, he was sure the people chasing him were gaining on him.

Risking a glance up, Jim tried to work out if hiding in the trees was an option.

They looked strong enough, but he'd only know for sure when he climbed one. Turning sharply to the left, Jim changes course and jumps. Grabbing a low hanging branch he twists and propels himself upwards. Landing on a wide branch, he throws out his arms as he almost loses his balance.

Moving through the trees and climbing higher as fast and as quietly as he can, Jim begins looking for a hiding place. Not far from where he was climbing, he can hear the people chasing him, drawing ever closer as the seconds pass.

It wouldn't be long until they reached the tree he'd climbed, hopefully they wouldn't work out where he's gone or look up. Finding a branch strong enough to support his weight for longer than a couple of seconds, Jim lies flat on his stomach and begins to work out of he can be seen from the ground.

Sighing slightly, he believes it will be safe enough for now.

Glancing back the way he thought he had escaped from, Jim shakes his head slightly. He hadn't even bothered to look for the others before he escaped, he had just run. He'd have to go back for them, if he didn't get beamed up first.

Frowning Jim turns his attention back to the ground, if he could steal a uniform and a couple of weapons, he could sneak back into the building and try and find them. If he could find his way back, that was.

Suddenly he spots one of the people who were chasing him through branches on the ground below.

The uniforms, they seemed so familiar, it was like he had seen them before, but he just couldn't place where. Even their masks… They were so familiar and recognisable, so unique in design. He hadn't really paid much attention to the design before, but the symbol embroidered in the material, was a symbol he'd seen before.

Then it clicks.

That was the symbol of the revolution.

He recognised the uniforms because they were the same uniforms as Kodos' men had on Tarsus IV had.

But that wasn't possible the revolution died with Kodos, unless others were continuing his work... He did have many follows after all. But most of them had been killed when Starfleet arrived and the other were most likely locked up or on the run or even in hiding.

Jim shakes his head, this was bad.

If people were continuing Kodos' work, god knows how many people could have died on this planet. The planet was lifeless according to the sensors on the Enterprise, yet while Jim had been running he'd seen signs of civilisation.

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**James glanced over his shoulder, as he entered a shop. **

**He could see Sam entering a shop across the street. They had taken to stealing food some months ago, Frank the bastard he was, had stopped giving them food. And if they were caught stealing food from the cupboards, the consequences weren't pleasant... Frank had a mean looking meat cleaver.**

**Wincing slightly, James remembered the time Frank had nearly cut of his hand when he tried to take some food off the kitchen counter. If his reflexes had been any slower his hand definitely wouldn't still be attached to his wrist. James flexed his wrist slightly, he'd rather steal and possibly get caught by the police, than lose his hand. **

**That meat cleaver was deadly sharp.**

**Glancing round, James quickly worked out where the security guards were, without anyone noticing what he was doing. Walking down the aisles, James began looking for food to steal. Food that was easy to hide, but would also offer a filling meal. **

**Glancing over his shoulder every now and again, James made sure his way to the exit was clear, before grabbing a box off the shelf and hiding it under his jacket and heading towards the door.**

**Stepping out in to the street, James started running, heading towards the edge of town. He could hear people yelling and shouting behind him, grinning he just picked up the pace. **

**Reaching the edge of town, Jim turned sharply to the right and along a narrow street. Rubbish and litter covered the pavement, old styled newspapers and bottles shifted and rolled in the slight wind. **

**Broken glass and bits of rusting metal glittered and gleamed, covering the ground like a bed of spikes and blades. While bits of old food and waste rotted on the ground, causing a sickening smell to fill the air and attract flies. **

**This was one of the part of town most people didn't see and chose to ignore. **

**For as long as James could remember this part of town, this street had been in a state of wreck and ruin. **

**It was forgotten. **

**Hidden from view, hidden from mind, so the saying goes. Reaching an old mechanics auto shop, James stopped running and climbed through the gap in one of the bordered up windows.**

**Ducking behind some old storage boxes, James held his breath. Deeper in the shop the sound of people arguing could be heard, James recognised one of the voices as his brothers. Moving forward, James moved from behind one box to another, until the sight of his brother surrounded by a group of other people his age came into view.**

**Not daring to move, James watched as they began to argue once more. **

**These were the people Sam had been talking about, the people he'd messed with and they weren't good people. Keeping as still as possible, James held his breath as something collapsed to the ground not far behind him. **

**The people surrounding his brother spun and faced where he was hiding. Gulping James tried to make himself as small as possible. Who knew what they'd do to him, if they found him.**

**"What the hell is going on here?!" An angry voice suddenly demanded.**

**James turned in his hiding place to see Aurelan standing a couple of metres away, with her hands on her hips. Glancing back at the people who had surrounded his brother, James watched as they all backed off. Aurelan's father was quite a powerful businessman and wasn't someone you got on the wrong side of. **

**Even at school no one dared even talk to her the wrong way, Sam had been the only person who dared to challenge her and they had hit it off from there.**

**"I said: what the hell is going on here?!" Aurelan demanded again.**

**"Nothing." One of them quickly answered.**

**"We were just leaving." A second added, as they all rushed to leave the building.**

**Once they were gone Aurelan turned to Sam. "I think it's time we talked about leaving this town, don't you?"**

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Hey, hope you enjoyed reading that chapter, until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter six:

**Sam stormed down the stairs, a backpack slung over one shoulder. Only a couple of steps behind him, James was almost running to catch up with his older brother. As Sam reached the hallway leading to the front door, Frank stormed out of the living room and quickly cut in front of James, as he followed Sam to the front door.**

**"You know what? Get the hell out of the house!" Frank yelled.**

**Sam and Frank had been arguing for weeks now. Ever since Sam had turned sixteen the two of them had been at each other's throats every opportunity they got.**

**"What do you think I'm doing?" Sam snapped back. "Going for a picnic?!"**

**Frank glared at Sam as they exited through front door. "When your mum comes back, she can deal with you."**

**"Like she cares!" Sam sneered. **

**"Go ahead, go, runaway." Franks growled, as Sam made his way across the yard towards the front gate. "You think I give a damn?" **

**"Where are you going?" James asked, dodging around the enraged Frank and catching up with his brother.**

**"As far away as I can get." Sam answered, without stopping or turning to look at his little brother.**

**"Which won't be far enough!" Frank cut in, shoving James out the way as he carried on after Sam. "This is my house. Not yours. Not your mothers."**

**Sam doesn't even turn to look at Frank as he kept on walking. He knew it was a lie, the house was their mothers, not Frank's. **

**"What do you want James?!" Frank yelled, as he turned to face James, who was still trying to catch up with his brother.**

**"I just don't want my brother to go." James answered, trying to catch his brothers eye, as he half turned back to look at him.**

**"Well what you want doesn't matter." Frank snapped. "You're no one and I asked you to wash the car! How many damn times do I have to repeat myself? Go!"**

**"Please stay." James pleaded, dodging around Frank again and catching up with his brother. **

**"I can't take Frank anymore, Winona has no idea what he's like when she's not around." Sam answered. "Do you hear him talking like he's our dad?! That's not even his car you're washing, that's dad's car."**

**James glanced at the vintage red 1965 Chevrolet Corvette stingray convertible, the car was an antique.**

**"You're going to be okay, you always are." Sam continued, resting a hand on one of James' shoulders. But to James it sounded like he was trying to convince himself of that fact rather than him. **

**"You always do everything right, good grades, obeying every stupid order... I can't be a Kirk in this house! Show me how to do that and I'll stay."**

**James stared at his brother remembering what he had Aurelan had talked about that day in the old auto shop. **

**This had been their plan. **

**Sam and Aurelan were going to run away together.**

**Aurelan had told Sam to man up and that he could never be a Kirk while he was still being pushed around by Frank and that he had to get out before Frank did some real damage. **

**"I'll see ya." Sam muttered, giving James' shoulder a squeeze and walking away.**

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_"It appears-" Spock begins, but is cut off by an alarm sounding. _

"Red alert," Sulu exclaimed. "Intruders on deck eight."

Red lights start flashing as the officer at the communications station relays the message over the intercom.

"Intruders?!" McCoy exclaimed. "How is that even possible?!"

"The only logical conclusion would be, Doctor," Spock answers. "That they have somehow managed to bypass the shields."

"That's not what I meant, hobgoblin!" McCoy snaps.

"Kommander Spock," Chekov suddenly exclaimed. "We are picking up life signals on ze planet's surface."

"Can you identify them?" Spock questions moving forward to stand between Chekov and Sulu.

Chekov shakes his head. "Nyet, sir."

Spock quickly turns and walks back over to the captain's chair, pressing on of the buttons on the arm rest, he contacts the transporter room.

"Bridge to transporter room." Spock announces.

"_Lieutenant Riley here, sir_." Comes the reply.

"Lieutenant Riley," Spock speaks. "As you are no doubt aware the sensors have picked up signs of life on the planet's surface. At this current moment we are unable to identify them. The probability of one of them being the captain is fifty-eight point four one two percent. Please be prepared to beam the captain aboard, should he be identified."

"_Yes, commander._" Lieutenant Riley replies.

"Fifty-eight point four one two percent?" McCoy questions.

"Yes Doctor, that is what I said." Spock answers the doctor. "The probability of the captain not being one of the life signals is forty-one point-"

"That's not what I meant." McCoy cuts Spock off.

Spock raises an eyebrow. "Then what was your meaning Doctor?"

"You know what?" McCoy huffs. "Forget it."

"We've found him, sir." Sulu speaks up, before Spock has a chance to reply to McCoy's comment.

"Are you certain?" Spock questions.

"Da." Chekov replies.

"_Transporter room to bridge._" Lieutenant Riley's voice sounds though the intercom.

"Commander Spock here, Lieutenant." Spock answers with a push of a button.

"_The captain has just been beamed aboard, sir._"

McCoy instantly moves forward to stand beside Spock.

"Tell Jim he better not move an inch until I get there, or I'll bring forward his next physical." McCoy threatens.

"_Of course, sir._" Lieutenant Riley replies.

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**James watched until his brother had vanished out of sight, before turning and walking back towards the house. Frank was nowhere in sight, he had no doubt gone back into the house to find a drink. **

**James almost stopped walking, Frank was no doubt pissed that Sam had left. When Frank was pissed off he drank, he drank a lot, much more than he normally drank.**

**Sam had left. **

**This time James did stop walking. It was like what had happened had finally sank in. **

**Sam had left. **

**Which meant James was now Frank only target when he got mad. Sam had abandoned him, left him to face Frank alone. James clenched his fists, but his sudden anger was gone as quickly as it appeared. **

**Fear took its place.**

**He'd been left alone with Frank.**

**Suddenly the front door was thrown open.**

**"Don't just stand there, boy!" Frank bellowed. "I told you to clean the car!"**

**James took a step back, but apart from that didn't move. Frank growled at him and suddenly he was storming towards him. James goes to turn and run, but Frank is already level with him. Before James even had a chance to move Frank kicked him in the stomach, sending him stumbling back, while Frank just sneered at him.**

**"Clean the car!" Frank yelled, before turning away and heading back to the house.**

**James collapsed to the ground, his arms wrapped around his midsection. He groaned in pain, it didn't feel any worse than Frank's normal kicks, but he would no doubt have a lot of bruising.**

**After a couple of minutes James forced himself to his feet. Wincing in pain he made his way over to the water pump and grabbed a bucket. Filling it with water, James squeezed half a bottle of cleaning product into bucket and grabbed a sponge. Dragging the bucket across the yard, James made it to the car. **

**The car he had always believed was Frank's, which in fact was his fathers'.**

**Picking up the sponge James dunked it in to the water and began to clean the car, not caring if Frank came out and yelled at him for doing it wrong. This was his father's car and Frank treated it like his own. Sam had even once said it was rumoured Frank was planning on selling the car to pay off some of his gambling debts.**

**After washing the car down with soapy water, James picked the lock of one of the car doors and takes a seat in the driver's seat. Picking up the J-cloth, which lay on the passenger seat, James began to clean the inside of the car. Reaching up and pulling the sun visor down, James almost dropped the J-cloth in fright, as a pair of keys drops down into his lap.**

**Picking up the keys, James looked at them for a moment, before looking up and grinning. A plan was already forming in his mind.**

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Hello, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I'm so sorry it has taken me so long to add a new chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter seven:

**James sat in the police stations waiting area, his head resting back on wall behind the chair he was sat on. He smiled to himself as he thought of his dad's car laying in a mangled heap at the bottom of the old quarry. He knew his mum would be furious when she found out about what had happened, but it was worth it.**

**From the way the police officer who commed Frank, winced after telling him what had happened, James knew Frank was mad, enraged even. **

**James had only ever known Frank to get that mad once before, and that hadn't ended well for Sam. James knew one way or another this was his way out. Frank was either going to kill him or he was going to be so mad he wouldn't care who saw him attack his step-son.**

**Sitting at the desk across the room from James, the police officer in charge of his care until Frank arrived, watched James carefully. The way Frank had spoken had put the officer on edge, the rage in his voice had been so uncontrolled and violent. **

**Frowning the officer watched as James clutched his midsection and winced. The officer picked up their comm and quickly contacted the stations medical officer. To announce it over the intercom, would no doubt send James running, this wouldn't be the first time the officer had encountered children from an abusive home life. **

**Suddenly the door to the waiting area they were sitting in, was thrown open with incredible force. **

**Frank stormed into the room his gaze fixed on James. **

**Before either James or the police officer had time to react, Frank was across the room and throwing James against the wall. The back of James' head hit the wall with a sickening crack.**

"**I'm going to kill you! You little brat!" Frank exclaimed, his voice quivering with fury. "Do you have any idea how much that car was worth?! Do you?!"**

**James tried to speak, but no sound could pass his throat, where Frank had a hand wrapped around his neck.**

"**What?!" Frank demanded.**

**James met Frank's gaze. "I hope… You… Burn in… Hell."**

**Frank let out an enraged yell and the hand around James' throat tightened. James couldn't work out if his darkening vision was due to his head injury or lack of air. **

**Suddenly the hand was gone and James slid down the wall, his head wound leaving a bloody trail as he did so. He could only just make out the shapes of the police officer pinning Frank down on the floor.**

**More people appeared in the door way, forming a large dark blob that James can only make out the outline of. **

**Suddenly there was someone next to him. **

**James tried to focus on them, but his vision was too dark and blurry. Then just as suddenly there was a bright light being shone in his eyes and everything goes dark and silent.**

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"_Of course, sir." Lieutenant Riley replies._

"Are you okay, captain?" Kevin Riley asks, watching Jim careful as he stands on the transporter pad, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.

Jim gaze snaps up and meets Kevin's, his blue eyes stormy with a mixture of emotions Kevin can't even begin to name before Jim looks away.

"Kev..." Jim begins but cuts himself off, with a shake of his head.

"JT?" Kevin questions, using Jim's nick name from when they were younger.

Jim shakes his head again slightly and looks back at Kevin before looking away again.

"I'm sorry." Jim mutters.

Kevin frowns. "What for?"

Jim shakes his head once again and steps off the transporter pad. "Tom, he… He never believed Kodos was dead, did he?"

Kevin shakes his head. "You know Tom didn't."

"I think Tom is… was right, Kev," Jim mutters, looking at the doors to the transporter room. "I think Kodos is still alive."

"What do you mean Tom was right?" Kevin questions. "Starfleet told us he was dead!"

"A body burnt beyond recognition… They never had a positive ID on the body." Jim answers.

"So what, you think they lied?" Kevin replies.

"No," Jim shakes his head. "I believe they believed Kodos died in that fire. There's a reason Tom never believed Kodos died… He never did tell you what happened that day, did he?"

Kevin looks confused. "What day?"

"The day Tom attempted to save me from Kodos's compound." Jim answers.

Before Kevin has a chance to answer the doors to the transporter room slide open and Dr McCoy enters with his usual determined pace.

"Bones!" Jim greets him with a grin.

"Medical bay. Now." Bones answers in way of greeting, but the relief of seeing his best friend reasonably unharmed is clear in his eyes.

"Bones, I'm fine." Jim complains.

"Fine!" Bones exclaimed stalking forward and grabbing Jim's wrist and holding them up. "You call this fine?"

Jim looks at his wrists. He hadn't noticed before, but where the cuffs had held him, were angry red marks and patches of dried blood. Jim winces slightly, as he remembers his entire weight was being held up by his wrists whilst he was unconscious.

Bones let's go of his wrists and quickly grips his chin, tipping his head to one side.

"By the looks of it you've been injected with whatever knocked out the rest of away team. So how you're awake and not unconscious like the rest of them, is a question I'd like answered. You're also covered in scratches. So get your ass down to medical bay now, I'm not going to ask again."

Jim glares at Bones for a moment, who just crosses his arms over his chest and glares back, before turning to Kevin.

"I'll explain what I know later." Jim mutters, trying not to draw the doctor's attention to what he's saying. "Meet me in my ready room when your shift finishes, I'll be there as soon as I escape from med bay."

Bones slaps the back of Jim's head and glares at him.

"Don't even think about it, kid." Bones warns, waving a finger at Jim threateningly.

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**James woke with a start, sitting up and glancing round he finds himself in one of the private rooms of Iowa's main hospital. **

**He almost fell off the biobed, in shock and surprise, as he found a middle-aged women sitting, asleep, in the chair next to his biobed. Her dark was blonde hair is pulled up in a messy bun and her cloths were wrinkled, it was clear she'd been sitting there for a while.** **Frowning James tried to work out why she looked so familiar. **

**Suddenly the door to the room he was in slides open and a man entered. He dropped his cup of coffee, in surprise, as he caught sight of James awake and staring at him. The women in the chair beside the biobed woke with a start and glared at the man in the doorway, before following his shocked and relieved gaze.**

"**James?" The women questioned, almost as if she can't believe it.**

**James turned and looked back at the women. **

**"Aunt Jennifer?" He asked.**

"**Oh, my dear." She sobbed suddenly and reached forward and pulled James into a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry."**

**Slowly James returned his aunts embrace. **

**The man standing in the door way quickly moves forward stepping over the puddle his dropped coffee had made and rested a hand on James' shoulder.**

"**It good to see you awake, kid." He smiled.**

**James shifted in his aunt's embrace so he can look up at the man.**

"**It's good to see you too, Uncle Chris." James replied.**

**After a couple of moments Jennifer pulled away and cupped James' face with her hands. She smiled a small watery smile. **

**"Once the doctors say you're clear to leave, you are coming to stay with us on Tarsus IV." She explained.**

"**Don't worry about Frank, kid," His uncle quickly spoke up. "The police took good care of him. I don't think he'll ever be released, you're medical record alone contained enough evidence to ensure that. I'm just glad all school do a monthly health scan, or there would have been no evidence! After they bought up your brother record too, the bastard confessed everything."**

"**Language!" Jennifer scolded her husband.**

**James smiled slightly before glancing at his uncle and looking back at his aunt. "What about my mother?"**

"**Don't worry, honey," Jennifer smiled. "Your mother has been informed. She going to meet us on Tarsus as soon as her mission is over."**

"**Oh, before I forget, kid," Chris spoke up, walking over to a bag on the other side of the room and pulling out a box. "I know you don't celebrate your birthday, but we always send something. Happy eleventh birthday, kid, sorry it's later than usual."**

**Reaching forward James took the box from his uncle as he returned to stand beside his aunt.**

"**Well open it." Jennifer beamed. "I promise you: you will love it!"**

**Rolling his eyes slightly, James slowly pulled the wrapping paper off the box and stare at it for a moment.**

"**A chess set," James smiled tracing the picture on the front of the box. "Thank you."**

**Jennifer smiled. "We had it hand-made just for you! Your father and his father before him had a set just like it. A Kirk family tradition. I thought, as you're father isn't here to carry it on, we would."**

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter eight:

**Jennifer smiled as she watched James stared at the house before them, a small smile gracing his face. It was the first time she had seen James smile a truly happy smile and she knew this was a good sign. Of course he had smiled at the hospital, but there had been a lot of pain hidden in that smile, you could see it in his eyes. **

**But that pain had finally disappeared. **

**Well not completely. **

**Pain like that took years to overcome, but it was a start. **

**It had been a long trip on the shuttle to Tarsus IV. Both Jennifer and her husband, Chris, had been dying to get off that shuttle, while James had seemed truly at home, looking out the tiny widow at the darkness littered with stars. **

**She could understand why James reminded Winona so much of her late husband, but that was no excuse for leaving her children with that monster. For leaving them behind every time she went off on a mission, officer in Starfleet were able to bring their children with them on long term missions.**

**Sighing, Jennifer smiled, as her husband slipped an arm around her shoulders and stood beside her smiling as he watched James. The two of them had never been able to have children, so this was a new start for them just as much as it was for James. Glancing up at the sky Jennifer frowned slightly, the blue sky was rapidly becoming overcast. Shaking her head, Jennifer turned her attention back to James. She hoped he liked the rain, because the spring storms on this planet lasted weeks!**

"**Aunt Jennifer," James called, turning to face her. "Is what mum said true?"**

**Jennifer glanced at her husband, before glancing back at James. "What does Winona say?"**

"**That it rains so much in the spring, the roads turn into streams." James answered.**

"**Streams, my ass!" Chris snorted. "More like raging rivers of muddy water!"**

"**Chris!" Jennifer scolded.**

**But James just beamed at them. **

**"Does it happen every year?" He questioned, excitement in his voice.**

"**You bet it does kid." Chris answered. "Worst time of the year by a mile!"**

**Jennifer r****olled her eyes. "My mother always used to say 'there's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong cloths'."**

"**There's no cloths suitable for that kind of weather," Chris muttered. "But then your mother was a crazy old bat."**

**Jennifer glared at her husband, but before she had a chance to reply, a cheerful greeting sounded.**

"**Good morning, Jennifer." A women's voice greeted.**

**Turning James watched as a women with dark brown hair approached them, a boy two or three years older than him walking at her side.**

"**Samantha," Jennifer replied****, smiling, before turning to the boy. "Tom, I'd like you to meet James, he's my nephew. Do you mind showing him around?"**

**Tom turned towards James and the two stared at each other for a moment. **

"**Of course not, madam." Tom finally answered****, grinning at James.**

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Bones glares as Jim glances at the exit of medical bay every couple of seconds, like he was planning on making a break for it any moment.

"Don't even think about moving off that damn bed," Bones growls, picking up his medical scanner and moving it up and down Jim's body.

"It's only a couple of scratches, Bones." Jim answers, glancing around the medical bay with a look of unease. "I've survived worse without treatment."

"I don't care if it's a peach tree growing apples," Bones answers, as he begins treating Jim's wrists. "It's my job, as a doctor and as your chief medical officer, to treat your injuries… Even if they are just 'a couple of scratches', which if they become infected could lead to countless health problems, you could even lose your hands!"

"You really are grumpy today," Jim mutters, wincing slightly as Bones touches a rather tender spot on his right wrist. "So mind telling me why there's a red alert? Seeing as no one else has seen fit to inform me."

"Intruders." Bones informs him. "I'm sure Spock will be along with a fall report any minute."

"Intruders." Jim repeats, his eyes gaining a faraway look.

Bones rolls his eyes. "That's what I said."

Jim doesn't move an inch as Bones begins treating the scratches on his arms, his eyes unfocused and his mind coming up with countless possibilities for why Kodos, or at least Kodos' men, would send people aboard a federation flagship. None of the reasons he could think of, had a good outcome for himself or Kevin… Or his crew for that matter.

He knew if Kodos really was alive, like Tom had always believed and like he himself was starting to believe, then his crew were in as much danger as he and Kevin were. The Kodos he had seen on Tarsus IV, was mad and willing to go to any length necessary to kill those in his way. Jim had kept tabs on the others since they had been rescued, all those years ago.

They were all dead.

It was only now their deaths seemed less innocent then they had first appeared.

Bones who was in the process of patching up one of the deeper scratches, frowns as he notices a small line of silvery white skin on Jim left arm, half way between his elbow and his shoulder. Lifting the tattered fabric of Jim shirt sleeve, he frowns at the scar he sees.

It looked like an old fashioned bullet wound and it looked old, but Bones had never seen it before and he'd been Jim's doctor long enough to know there was no way he could have missed this.

Running his thumb along the scar, his frown deepens as the scar becomes clearer. Looking down at his thumb he notices it's was covered in a coloured substance, not much different from makeup foundation. Bones knew it was a substance commonly used to hide scars which couldn't be removed that easily, so that would explain why he had never seen it before.

Turning and picking up his scanner, Bones scan Jim's scar, but nothing shows up. According to the scanner there was no scar tissue there. Frowning once more Bones turns over his hand and scans it, its results confirmed small amounts of scar tissue, he was a doctor after all and accidents did happen when cleaning equipment with sharp edges.

"Jim," Bones mutters, peering at friend. "Jim, JIM!"

Jim snaps out of his trance like state, his gaze quickly focusing on Bones. "What?"

"You were shot," Bones answers, before Jim can reply he continues. "By the looks of it, I'd say with an old fashioned rifle. Yet on your medical record it shows no such injury occurring."

"What are you talking about?" Jim answers quickly, trying not to let his line of sight drop to his left arm.

Bones points to the scar on his arm.

"Mind explaining how you got this? Why it isn't on your medical record? And why my scanner isn't picking it up?" His tone making it clear Jim wasn't getting out of medical bay until he did.

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**Tom and James walked side by side, as they followed the road towards the centre of the colony. James was carefully studying their surroundings, whilst Tom walked along staring at the ground in an attempt to stop anyone noticing him. As they reach the main square outside the colony's meeting hall, James frowned at the sight which greeted them.**

**A group of five men dressed in matching uniforms were approaching the notice board. One stepped forward and began nailing a notice to the board, whilst the other four stood guard, rifles held loosely in their hands.**

**James nudged Tom. **

"**Who are they?" He asked pointing towards the men.**

"**Governor Kodos' men," Tom answered. "I'd keep clear of them, if I were you. Don't cause any trouble either. They're the law on this planet and their punishments are anything but just."**

"**Why doesn't Starfleet do anything?" James questioned, remembering his mother once telling him about a mission where they had overthrown a colony leader who had been breaking federation laws.**

**Tom snorted. "Starfleet does a yearly supply drop, that's it. Kodos gives them his reports and Starfleet send them to headquarters. I don't think I've even seen a Starfleet officer set foot in this colony outside of his compound… Plus even if they did, nobody would speak up about it."**

"**Why not?"**

"**Because you'd have a hard time proving it." Tom answered, with a slight shrug. "They're discreet. They know how to get away with it…"**

**James turned back and watched as the men returned the way they had come and people began gathering around the notice board.**

"**To be honest with you," Tom suddenly spoke up. "I don't think Kodos knows what his men do. Everything Kodos writes on that notice board seem innocent enough and he's not hard on the people here."**

"**You make it sound like no one's ever seen him." James muttered.**

"**That's because hardly anyone has," Tom answered. "Kodos never appears in public. I've heard a rumour saying he's afraid of public speaking, only those who are called to meetings at his compound have seen him. I've seen his daughter, Lenore, though. She's in the same grade as me at school."**

**James stared at Tom for a moment.**

"**Don't you think it's a little bit odd that hardly anyone has seen him?"**

"**I think it's damn right suspicious," Tom agreed. "But what can we do about it? It's the way things are done on this colony… I can't wait until I'm old enough to leave this place."**

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I'll try and put up the next chapter soon.

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own star trek.

Chapter nine:

James rubbed the back of his hand across his forehead, as he stood at the entrance to the garage that his uncle owned. He had tested right out of school and as Tarsus IV had no college, James had been given been given a part time job at his uncle's auto repairs shop. They repaired everything from PADD's to cars. James had learned quickly and today was the first day his uncle had let him run the shop on his own, much to his aunts' pride.

It wasn't the only job James had, his aunt was a doctor. She worked at Tarsus IV's only hospital, as head of the A&amp;E department. So when James wasn't working with his uncle, he was shadowing his aunt, as she explained what she was doing and teaching him basics of emergency medicine.

By the end of his first year on Tarsus, James knew how to repair a shuttle craft engine and how to stop bleeds and reset bones. He knew how to rewire a PADD, bypass a security system, administer a hypo correctly and how to work out the correct dosage. He could even identify and diagnose many basic diseases. In the spring he would be taking his first exam. If he passed he would become a fully trained nurse and would be able to treat basic injuries in the A&amp;E department.

Shaking his head, James grinned. Back on earth that would never have happened, but being the only colony on Tarsus IV, the rules were different here. If you were able to do the job, you did the job, regardless of age. James was far more intelligent than most adults on Tarsus, as his aunt had told him, he had an IQ which could rival most Vulcan's.

But that wasn't all he had learnt to do. He also had some interesting hobbies.

Tom often dragged him off into the woods, when they both had a day free of work, to set traps and go foraging. Sometimes they'd go rock climbing in the mountains. There was a large secluded lake up there, where they would go base jumping or cliff diving in the summer or warmer weather. His uncle had also taught him how to shoot and James' aim was now better than most.

"Excuse me?" A voice from the road outside the shop sounded.

James snapped out of his thoughts and turned around.

Standing not far from him, was an elderly Japanese women. She must have at least been in her sixties, her grey hair was pulled back into a tight bun, held in place with a collection of hair pins.

"Can I help you, madam?" James asked politely, as he turned to face her with a slight smile.

"Is the owner of this shop here, young man?" She questioned, returning his smile.

"No madam," James answered. "My uncle left me in charge today."

"What is your name, young man?" The women asked, frowning slightly.

"James Kirk, madam."

"Kirk!" The women gasped, stepping back. "You're George's son."

James stared at her. "You knew my father?"

"My last mission was on the Kelvin," The women explained. "I was retired, but Archer called in a favour. If it wasn't for your father and what he did on that ship, I never would have been able to return home."

James stared at her for a moment. "You're Hoshi Sato."

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Spock walked along the hallway, heading towards the medical bay. His shift on the bridge had just ended and if he'd been anyone else he would be running now. As not only was one of his closest friends, in medical bay, after disappearing on an unknown planet for a long time period; but his girlfriend was also there, having still not regained consciousness after being knocked out by a yet-to-be identified sedative.

Turning down another hallway, Spock approached the medical bay, his sensitive hearing already picking up on an argument between the captain and Doctor McCoy. His lips twitch slightly as they form the smallest of smiles, he would never admit to feeling such a human emotion, but he often envied the easy friendship the doctor and the captain had.

Stopping in the middle of the entrance to the medical bay, Spock observes for a moment. Scotty, Uhura and the rest of the away team that had been beamed up, were lying on biobeds, the nurses on shift checking the screens above their beds every couple of minutes.

On the far side of the room, was the captain. He was sitting on the edge of a biobed, refusing to look Doctor McCoy in the eyes. Doctor McCoy was standing next to him, his arms folded across his chest, as he glared at the captain. It was not unusual to see the two of them behaving like this, the captain had the illogical habit of hiding his injuries and Doctor McCoy often had to force the captain to tell him when things were wrong.

Spock often contemplated where such a habit could have come from, many humans showed fears of illogical things, such as hospitals or dentists. But why would someone fear something or someone who tries to help them?

As first officer, Spock had access to many of the captains' files and there were many gaps in the records, which troubled the Vulcan greatly. It was common knowledge that the captains' medical file was incomplete, as was the file covering his adolescent years.

"Captain." Spock greets, as he approaches them. "Doctor."

The captains face breaks out into a large smile, but his eyes held an emotion Spock couldn't identify.

"Mr Spock," The captain greets back, cheerfully. "Just the person I needed to see."

Spock raises an eyebrow, but does not comment on his friend's tone of voice. There was an undercurrent of emotion that again, Spock could not identify.

"I am here to give you the report of what has happened in you absence," Spock replies with a formal tone of voice, trying hide his relief of seeing his friend fairly well. "I would also like to remind you, that a full report of what happened down on the planet is needed."

The captain rolls his eyes. "Of course, Mr Spock."

Spock holds out a PADD and the captain quickly takes it, with a nod of thanks to his first officer. He quickly begins reading before standing and turning to Doctor McCoy.

"Bones…"

"Just go," Doctor McCoy answers, waving his hand. "But don't think for a second I've forgotten about any of this."

"I wouldn't expect you to," The captain mutters under his breath, before continuing in a louder voice. "See you later, Bones. Good day, Mr Spock."

Spock turns and watches, as the captain hurries out of the medical bay. "Is the captain well, doctor?"

Doctor McCoy stares at Spock for a moment. "That, Spock, is a good question. Now if you don't mind, I have work to do and I don't need a green blooded hobgoblin hovering around."

"That Doctor, is highly illogical, as Vulcan's do not have the capability to levitate." Spock answers.

Doctor McCoy glares at Spock for a moment, before throwing his hands up in the air. "Either you go sit with your girlfriend, or you get out of my medical bay!"

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Tom laughed as James swore in Klingon, the confused looks on the school bullies faces was amusing to say the least. A couple of them had even backed up a few paces at the strange sounding words that had left James' mouth.

"You okay?" James questioned, turning to the boy the bullies had been picking on.

The kid nodded and quickly began picking up his dropped work. "I'm fine."

Tom grinned as the bullies quickly run off, whilst James' attention wasn't on them.

"Anyone would think you're an actual Klingon, JT." He laughed.

James turned to face him, rolling his eyes at Tom's nickname for him.

Apparently James wasn't cool enough and Tiberius was just a name that didn't belong to this century, but together they formed JT. Which according to Tom, was awesome.

"I'm not sure what scared them more," Tom continued. "You swearing in Klingon or your fighting skills."

James grinned. "Least I don't smell like a Klingon."

Tom laughed and shook his head.

"So, what do they call you?" James asked, turning back to face the kid he had just helped.

"Kevin." The kid answered. "Kevin Riley."

"Nice to meet you," James replied, offering his hand. "I'm James Kirk and this is here, is Thomas Leighton."

"Hi," Tom greeted with a wave of his hand. "Most people call me Tom, and as James failed to mention, most people call him JT, a name I came up with."

"Ignore him," James smiled. "He's just trying to get the name to catch on."

Kevin smiled slightly. "JT almost sounds like a code name."

But before James could answer, a familiar voice cut him off.

"Leighton!" the voice yelled.

Tom, James and Kevin turned in direction the yell had come from.

A blonde girl, about the same age as Tom, came running up to them.

"Lenore." Tom greeted.

Lenore skidded to a halt in front of Tom.

"You were supposed to meet me an hour ago!" Lenore growled. "I stood there like an idiot, waiting for you!"

"Shit!" Tom cursed, before slapping a hand over his mouth. "I'm really sorry, Lenore."

Lenore just shook her head. "I should have known it was pointless asking you, it never interested you to start with."

James looked between the two of them. "What's this about?"

"Chess club," Lenore answered. "I didn't want to go on my own, so Tom promised he'd take me."

James raised an eyebrow at Tom.

"How could you stand up such a pretty young lady?" He questioned.

Tom glared at James, as Lenore blushed slightly.

"Well then," Tom grinned after a moment. "It's sorted, James will take you to chess club, Lenore."

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I'll try and get the next chapter up soon.

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter Ten:

**"James!" Jennifer yelled up the stairs. "Get up, you're going to be late!"**

**Jennifer couldn't help but smile as she heard James groan and stagger out of bed.**

**"What did you do to him yesterday?" Jennifer asked her husband, as she enters the kitchen. "I've never had to call up to him before, he usually rises with the sun."**

**Chris smiled at his wife over his paper, as she started making James some breakfast. "One of the tractors out in the field lost an engine. I asked James to go over there and replace it."**

**"He carried it?!" Jennifer exclaimed.**

**Chris laughed. "No, I attached a trailer to his bike and he cycled there. He replaced the engine and bought the broken one back. It's the first job on my list today, repair the engine if possible, or scrap it for parts."**

**Jennifer shook her head. "Sometimes I think you're going too hard on him, he's only thirteen for crying out loud!"**

**"If I didn't think he could manage it, I wouldn't make him do it." Chris answered. "He's a strong kid, intelligent too."**

**"I know," Jennifer replied. "Doctor Hopkins wants to take him on as an apprentice in next year"**

**"Is that a good idea?" Chris questioned, lowering his paper. "Doctor Hopkins runs the hospital. As he has been working alongside you, thankfully James hasn't been exposed to any deaths. But if he became Doctor Hopkins apprentice it could be a whole different story."**

**"I know," Jennifer sighed, as she set down a plate with a couple of slices of toast on it. "But Doctor Hopkins thinks James is ready."**

**"But what do you think?" Chris asked.**

**"I don't know," She answered. "The first time I dealt with a death as a nurse, I thought I was ready for it, but when it happened… I almost didn't turn up for my next shift. I cried for days afterwards."**

**Chris nodded. "It's just one of those things, you don't know how you'll react until happens."**

**"Yeah," Jennifer smiles sadly. "I can still remember the first person I lost. I don't think I'll ever forget them."**

**Chris reached across the table and gripped Jennifer's hand lovingly. "You can't save everyone, no matter how hard you try."**

**Jennifer nodded and smiled, gripping Chris's hand tighter in return.**

**"Morning!" James greeted, as he walked into the kitchen, still pulling his top on.**

**Jennifer smiled and shook her head slightly. **

**"Breakfast!" Jennifer suddenly yells, as James grabbed his bag and headed towards the door.**

**James rolled his eyes. He turned around grabbed the slices of toast, kissed his aunts cheek and hugged his uncle.**

**"See you later!" James yelled over his shoulder as he ran out the door.**

**Jennifer shook her head with a fond smile. **

**Taurus IV had been good to James, he seemed truly at home for once in his life. Jennifer also liked to think, he had a true family for the first time as well. He had friends, everyone knew James and for the first time in a long time he was truly appreciated. **

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Jim sat at his desk in the ready room, staring blankly at the screen of the computer. He'd just looked at everything Tom had sent to him and Tom was right. Kodos was alive, if Tom was dead like Jim believed, then he and Kevin were the only two of the Taurus nine left alive. The six who had died, had appeared to have died in accidents, but Tom's research and evidence clearly shows, each death wasn't.

Leaning backwards in his chair, Jim ran a hand over his face and sighed. He been sure it was all in the past, he knew it would come back to haunt him one day, but never in his wildest dreams did he expect it to happen like this. He and Kevin were both in danger… the entire crew could be in danger, but this wasn't just something Jim could call a meeting about to explain.

He had gone to great lengths to keep this name out the official reports and only a select few knew who he really was, even some of the admirals didn't have clearance to see those files.

Jim frowns as he sits forward, never before had he questioned why those files were so carefully guarded. Why did they need to be protected? Why didn't Starfleet want what happened on Taurus IV to be common knowledge?

Old Spock had contacted him the one the first anniversary of the massacre after he'd become captain. From what he had gathered, what happened on Taurus IV was common knowledge in his reality. Old Spock even had access to the list of who the Taurus nine were. Jim knew for a fact his first officer didn't have a high enough clearance level and neither did his chief medical officer.

Jim let out a sigh. He could hack into Starfleet's records later and see if he could find anything that wasn't on the report, but right now he had to find a way to keep Kevin his crew safe. He knew security was still on high alert, but if the intruders could beam aboard, they could no doubt keep themselves hidden. Meaning it was only a matter of time until they made their move.

Jim doubted they'd do anything while the ship was on such high alert, if it was him he'd wait a day or two, let the heat die down and then strike. He knew for a fact he and Kevin would be the targets, but if they failed to kill them, the destroying the ship would be one sure way to ensure they died.

But then Kodos had never been known for his forward thinking or ingenious plan making, he might just destroy the ship and be done with it. Speaking of Kodos, Jim still had find any leads he could on his current location, he had to find him. The families of those who died, the survivors and the dead could finally find some peace.

Jim stares at the computer for a moment, before switching it on.

"Computer," Jim starts. "Access history files."

"History files accessed." The computer answers, in its toneless voice.

"Subject: Background check on Anton Karidian." Jim shuts his eyes for a moment. Anton Karidian was the name Tom believed Kodos has been using since he faked his death on Taurus IV.

"No identification records available on Anton Karidian." The computer responds.

Jim frowns slightly. "Search for: information on Anton Karidian prior to 2246."

"No information or records on Anton Karidian prior to 2246." The computer replies.

Reaching forward Jim switches on the screen. "Photograph: Anton Karidian."

An image appears on the screen and for a moment Jim's heart stops. There was no denying it now, it was Kodos and he was still alive.

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**James skidded to a halt, as his bike braked on the sand like path just outside of the colony entrance. Glancing across the fields, James watched the farmers work. It was late summer and they were checking the crops ready for the harvest in a months' time. It was common knowledge there was a shortage of crops this year, but there was enough to last them and Starfleet had only just dropped off some supplies a few weeks ago.**

**However, James couldn't help but think something was going on, something the governor wasn't telling them about. He and Tom had, after getting bored one day, gone off exploring. But instead of heading towards the mountains like they usually did, they went the opposite way. For miles it was nothing but farm land.**

**They had taken their bikes and had cycled nonstop until midday. They had covered miles in that time, when they looked back they couldn't even see the colony and it would take at least three hours of walking until it came back into sight. The only reason they had stopped was because they had reached a wood. Tom had known there was a wood this far out, but it was common knowledge not to go near it, everyone knew how dangerous it was.**

**There was the problem. The wood was dead. Not a single tree, plant or animal were alive, everything was dead and rotting. James had an empty bottle at the time, so the two of them took a couple of samples. Later that night, after they had returned home, they broke into the school and tested the samples they had taken.**

**They soon worked out a fungus of some kind had killed all the plants and the animals that had eaten the infected plants, had also died as a result. They had shown what they found to Kodos' men, who simply told them the situation was already being taken care of. A couple of days later, a new law was put in place. 'No one was to go near the wood', as it was now classed as a biohazard.**

**"James!" A cheerful voice greeted him.**

**James looked around and grinned. "Lenore."**

**"You ready?" Lenore questions, getting herself ready as she pulls her bike up alongside him.**

**"Yeah," James answers. "Race you there!"**

**James kicks off and grips the handle bars as he rises from the saddle. He lent forward and peddled as hard as he could.**

**"That's not fair!" Lenore shrieked behind him, as she races after James.**

**James laughed and glanced over his shoulder. "You should know me by now, Lenore!" **

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I'll try and get the next chapter up soon.

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	12. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter eleven:

**Lenore grins, as she notices James slowing down ahead of her, but as he comes to a stop, Lenore's grin fades.**

"**James?" She questions, as she halts beside him.**

"**Something's wrong," James answers. "Something's not right."**

"**What do you mean?" Lenore frowns.**

"**Listen." James answers.**

**Lenore does. "I don't hear anything."**

"**Precisely," James answers. "Look around, the fields are empty… The farmers should be out here by now."**

**Lenore looks around, the fields, just as James had said were empty. Lenore couldn't believe she hadn't noticed, every morning when she and James headed out the colony, to Hoshi Sato's house, the farmers always greeted them; yelling a cheerful 'good morning' as the two of them sped past, racing towards Hoshi Sato's home.**

"**But there were farmer working in the fields when we left the colony," Lenore points out. "Maybe no one's made it this far out yet."**

**James shakes his head. "I don't think so…"**

"**My father is holding a meeting today!" Lenore suddenly remembers. "I saw him and some his men planning it when I left this morning… About a thousand people will be in attendance. Maybe that's where the farmers are."**

**James nodes. "Maybe."**

"**What do you mean 'maybe'?" Lenore demands. "My father is a good man."**

"**I never said he wasn't." James answers.**

"**But you and Tom don't bother hiding your distrust of him." Lenore snaps back.**

**James turns to face Lenore. "How can you trust a man who never shows his face in public? A man not even half the colony know what he looks like? Nobody even knows his true name! He's hiding Lenore, and I don't believe for a second that it's for a good reason."**

"**Don't talk about my father like that!" Lenore screams. "He's a good man. A far better man than you'll ever be, James."**

**James stares at Lenore for a moment, before shrugging and turning away. "If you say so."**

"**Yes," Lenore growls. "I do say so."**

**Suddenly James jumps. "Did you hear that?"**

"**Hear what?" Lenore questions, glancing round as an uneasy feeling sweeps over her.**

"**I could have sworn I heard a scream," James answers. "Come on."**

**James carries on cycling and Lenore quickly follows him, she suddenly had no desire to be left alone. As she follows James she couldn't help but think about what he had said. There was something different about this morning, when she had gone to say good bye to her father, he'd quickly hurried her out of the room, before she had a good chance to see the meeting he was planning. He never did that, he always let her look at his plans, he had told her it was his home one day she'd run the colony after him.**

**Ahead of her, James turns through the gate leading to Hoshi Sato's house, but he suddenly turns off the main path leading towards her house and cycles along a narrows footpath, hidden from view, which led to the rear of the building. As she turns and follows him, she notices a group of people gathered outside Hoshi Sato's house.**

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Spock stood beside Uhura bed for a moment, before moving and sitting in tone chair beside it. After a few moments, Spock reaches out and takes Uhura's hand in his. Lowing his mental shields for just a second, Spock checked Uhura was not in any kind of distress. Spock refuses to acknowledge the relief that washes through him, his emotional control had already been tested enough today.

Glancing across the medical bay, Spock's gaze lands on Montgomery Scott, the chief engineer. Spock's first encounter with Montgomery Scott had been when he beamed aboard with the captain, well cadet at the time. Spock could see why the chief engineer and the captain had become such good friends. Mr Scott and Jim had only just meet, but Jim trusted the engineers' judgement, that itself Spock had noticed was unusual as Jim was slow to truly trust anyone and in return Mr Scott gave Jim his loyalty.

Spock glances back at Uhura. Uhura herself has shown a great deal of dislike towards the captain, Spock knew they were never close at the academy. Uhura would never admit to it, but Spock knew Uhura had deemed Jim unworthy of her friendship. He had been too arrogant and too full of himself for Uhura taste, she had seen him as a spoilt child, who wanted to be centre of attention all the time.

But both now knew that wasn't true, Jim had always been centre of attention, not because he wanted to be, but because he was forced to be. Everyone who saw him, knew him because he was born in the wake of the Kelvin disaster, everyone knew his name because of what his father had done. Spock had long ago worked out, the way Jim acted, the way he behaved around people was just a way to shield himself, to stop people getting to close.

There were a great many things Spock still didn't know about the captain. There were things even Doctor McCoy didn't know about the captain and McCoy was by far the closest to the captain. As if summoned by the mere thought of him, Doctor McCoy appears beside Spock, frowning at the PADD in his hand.

"It's strange." Doctor McCoy mutters.

"Doctor?" Spock questions.

"The sedative used to knock out the landing party was the same dosage for everyone." McCoy explains, glancing up from the PADD to glare at Spock, who on turn raises an eyebrow.

"And how do you find that strange, Doctor?" Spock questions.

"Jim was knocked out with it." McCoy answers. "Yet he has been conscious for at least an hour while none of the others show any signs of waking and by my calculations, will not regain consciousness naturally until at least the gamma shift."

"Fascinating." Spock replies, Beta shift had only just started.

McCoy glares at Spock before throwing a hand in the air and walking off, mumbling under his breath about useless Vulcan's and their inability to help. Letting go of Uhura's hand, Spock gets to his feet, he needed to speak to the captain.

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**James quickly climbed off his bike and hide it from view of the house, before quickly moving forward and hiding behind a large cluster of plants Hoshi Sato had in her back garden. Lenore quickly does the same, trusting James enough to follow his lead, even though the people gathered in front of the house, she was sure, were her father's men.**

"**Wait here." James whispers, before getting up and running towards the open patio doors leading into Hoshi Sato's house.**

**Ducking behind the desk not far from the patio doors, James glances round the study. He couldn't believe be was doing this, but he knew something was really wrong and the feeling just wouldn't go away. Moving slowly, James crossed the room and headed towards the main room. Suddenly the smell of smoke filled the air, glancing up James saw the ceiling was quickly being engulfed in thick, dark smoke.**

**Running along the hallway, ducking down to try and avoid the smoke, James came to a sudden stop. Lying in the middle of the hallway was Hoshi Sato. She was facing away from him and didn't appear to be moving. Kneeling down, James begins to crawl towards her.**

"**Sato-sensei?" James calls.**

**James reaches Hoshi Sato's side and shakes her shoulder, her head roles to face him and James scrambles back in shock. In the centre of Hoshi Sato's forehead was a bullet hole, blood was still oozing from the wound. The sound of a gunshot sounds outside, shortly followed by the sound of a vehicle pulling away at high speed.**

**Coughing, James gets to his feet and runs back the way he came, pulling his top over his mouth and nose in an attempt to stop inhaling the smoke. Running outside, he darts back over to where he'd left Lenore hiding, only to find her gone.**

"**Lenore?" He hisses, his voice rough and waspy.**

**James turns and looks back at the house, smoke was billowing out of all the windows and flames could be seen crawling there way through the front of the house. **

**The front of the house.**

**That's where the gun shot had sounded from.**

"**No, no, no!" James mutters, as he runs back along the path he'd used to get here. Tuning as he reaches the end of the path, he runs back towards the burning building and crashes to his knees beside the still form of Lenore.**

"**Lenore?" James whispers, pulling her into his arms.**

**Lenore blinks up at him, blood spluttering over her lips. James quickly glances at her midsection, which was covered in crimson blood. He knew even with his medical knowledge there was no way Lenore was going to survive this even if he could get her back to the colony in a second, but he treats the wound the best he can, knowing it may make Lenore's last moments more comfortable.**

"**Why?" She gasps, coughing up more blood. **

"**Shhhh," James whispers, as tears stream down from his eyes and his voice thick with distress. "Try not to talk, save your energy."**

"**Why…" She gasps again. "Why… Did my… Father… Order this?"**

**James shakes his head unable to answer.**

"**I'm scared." Lenore suddenly gasps, tears running down her face, mixing with the blood leaking from her body.**

"**It's going to be okay," James cries. "I promise."**

**Lenore smiles weakly. "Just… Hold me… Please."**

**James nodes and pulls Lenore closer, he feels the moment she stops breathing and her body goes limp in his arms. Reaching up, he closes her eyes before resting his forehead against her rapidly cooling shoulder and he cries.**

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	13. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter twelve:

**James cycled faster than he had ever cycled before, he had to get back to the colony, he had to warn everyone about what was going to happen. The meeting Lenore had told him about, wasn't going to be a meeting it was going to be a massacre. A thousand people were going to be killed, Hoshi Sato and Lenore were simply the first victims. James still had a hard time believing Kodos had ordered the death of his own daughter! If he could kill his own flesh and blood, then there would be no mercy. **

**Every fibre of James's being was telling him to get as far away from the colony as he could, but he couldn't abandon his friends or his family. He had a chance to warn people, he had a chance to save a thousand people and life wouldn't be worth living if he didn't even try to save those he could. **

**His aunt and uncle were the only family he had left, he couldn't let them die. He knew only a thousand people would be attending the meeting, but there was still a chance his aunt and uncle could be among them. So could the families of his friends. Kevin's whole family lived on Taurus, if they died he'd be an orphan. The same as Tom, if his family were killed he'd have no one.**

"**Halt!" A voice bellows and James grips the brakes.**

**He looks up as his bike skids to a halt, five men stood at the entrance to the colony. They were Kodos' men and they were armed, all of them had their weapons pointed at James and the looks on their faces sent a shiver down James' spine.**

"**Hands where I can see them!" A second yells.**

**James quickly raises his hands.**

"**What is your name?" One of them demands.**

"**James Tiberius Kirk." James answers, trying to keep his voice from showing how scared he was.**

**One of them men lowers his weapon and pulls out a clip board, scanning the list he nodes and signals the others. Before James can even blink two of the five men have shouldered their weapons, moved forward and grabbed him by the arms.**

**And suddenly he's being dragged through the town, glancing around the best he could, he notices people peering through their windows. Even from a distance James can see the fear in their eyes, the paleness of their skin and the slight shaking of their hands. James looks down, he was too late, he couldn't warn anyone. **

**It had already started.**

**After a few minutes of being dragged along the streets, James looks up as they reach the compound outside Kodos' house. The gate is pulled open and James can only stare at the people gathered there. Men, women and children, James almost stops breathing at the sight of a man holding his baby to his cheat, trying to calm it, while his wife stands beside him a two year old on her hip. **

**The looks on most of the adults faces, told James they knew what was about to happen. The men holding James by the arms suddenly throw him forward and he stumbles for a couple of steps before turning and watching the gate slam shut.**

"**James!" A voice behind him screams.**

**James spins round just as his aunt crashes into him and wraps her arms around his shoulders. James returns the hug, before Jennifer lets go of him and stares at his blood covered top.**

"**Lenore," James chokes out. "She's dead."**

**Jennifer lets out a sob.**

"**I'm so sorry James." **

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Jim jumped in his seat and switched off the computer as the door to his ready room swishes open and Spock walks through. Spinning in his seat, Jim turns to greet him.

"Mr Spock." Jim greets.

"Captain." Spock answers, frowning ever so slightly at Jim's jumpy reaction.

Jim stares at Spock for a moment, who had moved to stand next to him.

"Are you familiar with the works of Dr Thomas Leighton?" Jim finally questions.

Spock stares at Jim for a moment. "As far as I am aware he is a good and thorough research scientist. He and his research partner were responsible for finding the cure to gametas cellularum mortis disease six years and five months ago on the planet Deneva."

"With a very good memory." Jim mutters turning back and resting his arms on the desk.

"I have no information on that, captain." Spock answers.

"Are we still in orbit, Spock?" Jim suddenly asks.

"We have moved out of beaming range and are awaiting further orders from Starfleet command," Spock replies. "Captain."

Jim nodes. "Good."

"Are you well, captain?" Spock suddenly question.

Both Spock and Jim were off duty, yet Jim hadn't once told Spock to call him Jim like he always did when they were both off duty.

"I'm fine, Spock." Jim manages a small smile, but Spock could tell it was mostly forced.

"As you know, fine has many definitions," Spock replies. "So is not an adequate answer."

"Was there a reason you came to see me, Spock?" Jim finally snaps.

"It is my belief that doctor McCoy wished for me to inquire as to why the sedative used to render you unconscious has not affected you like it has the other members of the landing party." Spock answers, raising an eyebrow slightly at Jim's tone.

"I don't know," Jim answers, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Maybe they used a different sedative."

"Doctor McCoy made it quite clear that it was the same sedative and the same amount was used," Spock answers. "And nor do I believe you are telling the truth when you say you do not know."

"Spock," Jim sighs. "Shouldn't you be with Uhura? She's your girlfriend after all. You're not on duty again until gamma shift, you should be spending your time with her."

Jim turns his attention to the chronometer and frowns, beta shift had already started meaning Kevin should have meet him here by now. Jim knew Kevin was only working alpha shifts for the next four days and he wasn't pulling any double shift either.

"No, no, no!" Jim exclaimed, jumping out of his chair and pushing past Spock.

"Captain?" Spock questions, following his captain down the hallway to the turbo lift.

"How could I be so stupid?" Jim mutters to himself, as he steps into the lift, followed by Spock.

"Captain?" Spock tires again.

"Not now, Spock." Jim replies, before telling the lift where to go. "Engineering."

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**Jennifer grips her nephews' hand, as she pushes her way through the crowd, up ahead her husband was standing trying to comfort one of Jennifer's fellow worked at the hospital. The nurse, who was no older than seventeen, still dressed in her uniform, turns and catches sight of Jennifer, then her eyes go wide as she spots James a step behind.**

"**Oh Jennifer," She cries, moving forward and hugging her. "Why is this happening? Why is he doing this?.. There's so many children here."**

**Whilst Jennifer tries to comfort her friend, Chris moves forward and pulls James into a tight embrace.**

"**I'm sorry, my boy." Chris releases James from the hug, but keeps his hand firmly on James's shoulders.**

"**He's going to kill us, isn't he?" James blurts out.**

**Chris looks at his nephew, taking in his blood stained cloths and the faint sent of smoke which clung to him. Chris couldn't help but recall the talk he and his wife had that morning, about James facing death for the first time, being unable to save someone for the first time.**

"**I'm so sorry, James," Chris answers. "I really am."**

"**Good morning citizens." A voice suddenly sounds from the speakers.**

**James glances round, watching as Kodos' men line the walls of the compound, there weapons drawn and ready. A chilling silence falls over the crowd and Jennifer hugs Chris' arm as they look towards Kodos' home. Following there gaze, James stares at the man standing on the balcony. Ever since Lenore's death, James has been forming a picture of what Kodos must look like. He looked nothing like the monster James has imagined. **

"**As you all no doubt know," Kodos continues. "The crops have been failing. But fear not, I have a solution. A solution that will save those who are worthy of being saved, those worthy of salvation. The revolution will be successful."**

**Kodos pauses for a moment, as one of his men appears and whispers something in his ear.**

"**The revolution is successful." ****Kodos****announces.**** "But survival depends on drastic measures."**

**He****pauses****again****, ****looking****out****at****the****people****gathered****before****him****. ****There****wasn't even a hint of remorse in his eyes.**

"**Your continued existence represents a threat to the well-being of society." ****His****voice****seemed to be getting louder.**** "Your lives mean slow death to the more valued members of the colony."**

**James****feels the shift in the crowd around him, as their worst fears are confirmed.**

"**Therefore, I have no alternative but to sentence you to death. Your execution is so ordered, signed Kodos, Governor of Tarsus IV."**

**Jennifer****turns****and****stands****in****front****of****James****, ****she****reaches****up**** and ****places****a****hands****on****his****cheeks****, ****tears****rolling****down****her****face****.**

"**No**** matter ****what****," ****She****smiles****weakly.**** "****I****will****always****love****you****."**

**She****leans****forward****and****kisses****his****forehead. Time seems to slow as Jennifer suddenly gaps and she falls towards the ground. The sounds of gun fire, people screaming and shouting and crying fades away to nothing, as James watches the blood soak through the back of aunt doctor's uniform, like a sponge soaking up water. Then suddenly he's being forced to the ground, by his uncle and James preys the liquid running down his cheek is his uncles' tears, not his blood.**

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	14. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter thirteen:

**James forced the body of his uncle off of him and forced himself to his feet. He scrubbed the dried blood from his cheek and tried not to look at the bodies of his aunt and uncle, but he didn't have much of a choice as his knees give way and he collapses back down to the ground between them. Reaching across, with a shaking hand, he slowly closes his aunt's eyes, trying not to meet her lifeless gaze.**

**The shooting had stopped hours ago, but James hadn't moved an inch until now. He just lain there, waiting until it was completely silent. He had wanted to make sure all of Kodos' men had left, before he moved. His uncle had saved him and he sure as hell wasn't going to let that go to waste… He was going to make them both proud.**

**Forcing himself to his feet again, James braces himself before looking around. There was so much blood, it seemed to contrast with the pale skin of the dead and even when James shut his eyes he could still see them in his mind. Their eyes were the worst, cold and lifeless, staring blankly at nothing. He'd known many of these people, talked to them, know them by name and now they were dead.**

**James' attention is suddenly caught by a soft sobbing noise. Following the sound James climbs over the bodies, trying to control his gag reflex as he goes. Finally he finds the source of the noise. A small three year old girl, still being held tightly in the arms of her dead mother. The girl looks up at him as he approaches. Her face was covered in dried blood, but she didn't appear to be injured.**

"**Hey," James whispers. "My names… JT."**

**The young girl shakes her head and turns burying her head in her mother chest. **

"**Why won't mummy wake up?" JT hears her sob.**

**JT wouldn't have stopped the tears running down his cheeks even if he could have. **

"**She's gone to sleep forever." JT finally replies, trying to explain to the three year old her mother was never going to wake up. **

**After a moment the young girl turns to face him. "It's the bad man's fault… He made mummy go to sleep and not wake up forever?"**

"**Yeah," JT answers. "We have to go, if the bad man comes back he'll make us go to sleep forever too."**

**The girl shakes her head. "I'm scared, I want my mummy to wake up."**

**JT stared at the girl, he couldn't imagine what this was like for her. She was so young and she had no concept of death, even though she was surrounded by it. She was too young to understand what had truly happened and JT couldn't decide whether that was better or worse.**

"**I know you're scared," JT mutters. "But we can't stay here, it's dangerous."**

"**Mummy said never to trust a stranger." The girl answers.**

"**Your mother is a wise women," JT answers. "But how can I be a stranger if you know my name… You know my name right?"**

**The girl nodes. "JT."**

**JT smiles slightly. "See I'm not a stranger, you wouldn't know a strangers name… Now we have to get out of here."**

"**We have to leave before the bad man returns?" The girl questions.**

**JT nodes. "Yes, we do and I promise, one day you'll see you mommy again."**

**The girl slowly crawls from her mother arms and takes JT's hand. "I'll see her again?"**

"**Yeah," JT answers. "Do you believe in heaven?"**

**The girl nodes. "That's where my granny went before we moved here."**

"**Well that's where your mummy is going to be going soon... After we leave, she'll go to heaven and one day you'll go there too and you'll see her again, I promise." **

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Spock quickly followed the captain as he ran through the engineering decks, obvious knowing where he was going and not slowing his speed, forcing people to jump out of his way. So far Spock had been unable to gain any information regarding what the captain thought was wrong. The only thing he knew was Jim was radiating high levels of fear, which Spock was having trouble blocking out. But it wasn't fear for himself, it was fear for someone else. Fear for someone in engineering it would seem.

If Spock had been any other being on the ship, his irritation would have showed clearly on his face as they reach the main deck of engineering and Jim suddenly turns and ducks under some pipes and heads towards a station hidden from view of the main floor. As Jim runs towards the station, Spock step almost falters as he sees a body lying on the ground.

Jim crashes to his knees beside the man lying on the floor, Spock quickly approaches as Jim begins checking the unconscious man's vitals. A cup is held tightly in one of the man's hands, whilst its contents is spilled across the floor. Moving to the station, Spock clicks the intercom on.

"Spock to medical bay." Spock speaks.

"_McCoy here._" Dr McCoy answers.

"A medical team is needed in engineering immediately." Spock replies.

"_They're on their way._" McCoy states, before the connection is cut.

Spock raises an eyebrow, before turning towards the Jim and the unconscious man.

"Come on, Kev." Jim mutters. "Don't do this to me…"

"A medical team are on their way, captain." Spock quickly speaks up.

Jim turns and glances up at Spock. "Thank you, Spock."

"Thanks are illogical." Spock answers.

Jim smiles slightly, before turning back to the man on the floor who Spock now recognises as Lieutenant Kevin Riley. Jim quickly places Riley in the recover position, before gripping his hand and bowing his head slightly.

"This is my fault, Kev," Jim whispers. "I'm so sorry… I should have worked it out quicker."

Spock glances at Jim and goes to ask what he means but stops when Jim carries on talking.

"I knew they wouldn't wait, I knew they'd strike as quickly as they could…" Jim mutters. "I just didn't think it would be this soon… I made you a promise a long time ago Kev, that I would keep you safe from them no matter what happened and no matter what the cost and I've failed. I'm so sorry, Kev."

Spock again raises an eyebrow, he had not been aware the captain knew the lieutenant prior to Riley transfer aboard the enterprise. There was no denying that Riley was a brilliant engineer, but a previous friendship with the captain, Spock knew, would cause many to doubt Riley ability, thinking he only gained his rank due to his friendship with the captain.

Jim suddenly lets go of Riley's hand and gets to his feet as the medical team arrives and he's quickly moved onto a stretcher. One of the nurses quickly takes the cup from Riley's hand and it's placed in a sample bag. Jim watches them hurry off towards medical bay, once they have gone he kneels down and studies the liquid, before dipping a finger in the liquid and tasting it.

"Amanita phalloides extract." Jim mutters, causing Spock to frown slightly.

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**JT stood watching the group around him, as they stopped for a break. There were nine of them in total, nine of them had survived Kodos' execution. JT hadn't been able to hide his relief when he found Tom and Kevin alive among the dead and with them five others.**

**Eleanor Molson, the girl JT had found, was the youngest at three and a half years old. Next was Danny Eames, who had just turned four years old. Then there was Connor Maxwell who was five nearly six years old, after him it was Joe and Melissa Burke, brother and sister at the ages of seven and eight. Then there was Alice Roberts who was nine and a half. Kevin Riley, was eleven years old, JT himself was only thirteen years meaning Thomas Leighton was the oldest at fifteen years old.**

**But it was JT who was in charge of the group. Tom had ready agreed with Kev, that it should be JT who was in charge. It was JT who got them all safely out the compound, past the guards and out of the colony. **

**It was also JT who suggested that hiding in the mountains would be there safest option, there was clean water and hundreds of caves to hide and take shelter in. Plus Kodos' men would have a hard time tracking them in the mountains.**

**JT turned and stared at the mountains, they were going to have a hard time surviving, but if they could stay hidden and stay alive until Starfleet arrived with the next lot of supplies they'd make it off this god forsaken planet. And that's what JT had promised them, he promised them that they all would make it off this planet alive and that he'd keep them alive until then and he had no intention of breaking that promise.**

**After all his uncle had died pushing him to the ground, to keep him safe and alive. His uncle's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. His uncle had saved him and now it was his turn to save others, in the back of his mind he couldn't help but be reminded of his father's actions on the day of his birth. How he gave up his life to make sure everyone could get away, including him and his mother.**

**His mother. JT shut his eyes. His mother was dead. Three months after his twelfth birthday, she died in an accident. A warp core malfunction, which flooded the engineering decks with radiation. Most had got out alive with minor radiation burns, but his mother and a handful of others weren't so lucky. He couldn't help but feel like he hadn't been as sad as he should have been when his aunt gave him the news… But then he'd been closer to his aunt than his mother and now she was dead too.**

"**What's the plan, James?" Tom asks, standing next to him.**

**JT turns and looks at Tom for a moment, before looking back at the mountains.**

"**It's JT now."**

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed reading that chapter. The next chapter should be up soon.

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	15. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter fourteen:

**JT stood in the middle of the street, staring at the scene around him. The massacre had only happened a couple of days ago, but JT and Tom had been returning to the colony in search of other survivors. For the last couple of days they had been taking it in turns to search Kodos' compound and the buildings around the compound, but this was the first time JT had ventured to this side of the colony.**

**Tom had suspected that the pause in Kodos' speech when one of his guards whispered in his ear hadn't just been a correction of what Kodos was saying. He suspected the people in the compound weren't the only ones to be killed, JT was inclined to believe him, but he wasn't prepared for this. The massacre in the compound had been one thing but this was on an entire different level.**

**Some houses lay in ruins, whilst others were burnt out shells of the building they used to be and some houses were still burning. The houses that were still standing and undamaged by the fires, had doors that had been kicked in and bullet shattered windows. There were bullet holes in the walls and dried blood staining the pavements, the scent of death filled the air and JT was having a hard time trying not to gag.**

**JT couldn't help but feel disgusted with himself. He was standing in the middle of a sight of mass destruction, half the population of Taurus IV were dead and he felt nothing, apart from the sickness in his stomach caused by the smell. He just felt numb. There was no horror or fear, no burning rage or desire for revenge, there was no sorrow or sadness… There was nothing, it was like seeing this had shut down every part of his mind that was capable of feeling, leaving him with nothing but a dull numbness. **

**But that didn't change the fact everyone was dead, looking at the scene around him, JT knew there was something wrong, but he couldn't work out what. Then it clicked. The people, the way they had fallen, the way they had died… It wasn't like the executions Kodos had ordered at the compound, these people had killed each other and all the damage had been caused by them, not Kodos' men.**

**The first words that came to mind was 'biochemical warfare', it often destabilised the population and resulted in the deaths of thousands. He and Tom had watched enough twenty-first century horror movies to know that… But if this was biochemical warfare, that means biological weapons could have been the cause of the fungus that killed everything, that destroyed the crops. **

**It was possible, it wouldn't be the first time in human history that such weapons had been used. A couple of centuries ago the human race almost wiped themselves out with such weapons, that's what saved the earth in a way, it's near distinction had resulted in the unity of every continent and every government and ruling party. But this wasn't earth and this wasn't a fight for power, this was Taurus IV and this was a fight for survival.**

**Kodos had lied to the people, told them there was enough food to last until Starfleet dropped off the next lot of supplies, that there had been enough food for everyone… Only it had been enough food for those Kodos deemed worthy of survival, those he chose to survive. Somewhere in the back of his mind, JT remembered hearing about something similar to this. Something about eugenics and how they deemed who lived or died. **

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"You have to save him, Bones." Jim mutters standing beside his best friend, as he watched Kevin, who was lying on a biobed his breath shallow and fast and the screen above him showing his was still in danger, every single reading was in the amber or red zones.

Bones turned and looked at his closest friend before placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not sure I can, Jim."

Jim shakes his head. "He has to survive… It's only us two left."

"Only you two left, captain?" Spock questions, suddenly appearing beside the Jim and Bones.

Bones jumps slightly and glares at Spock, while Jim simply glances at him before looking back at Kevin.

"Yeah," Jim answers after a moment. "It's only us left."

Bones frowns slightly as he notices Jim reach up and rub his left arm, right where the scar was.

"How long have you known the lieutenant, captain?" Spock questions.

Jim glances at Spock again. "Since I was twelve years old, Spock… We're pretty much family."

"Where were you and the lieutenant first acquainted?" Spock asks.

"That's none of your business!" Jim snaps, suddenly becoming defensive.

"Jim!" Bones warns, glaring at his friend.

Jim sighs and pitches the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry Spock, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

Bones squeezes Jim's shoulder slightly. "Maybe you should get some rest, Jim."

"Yeah," Jim answers with a slight node. "I'll be in my quarters."

With that he turns and leaves, both Bones and Spock watch him leave.

"Doctor," Spock questions. "What was the lieutenant poisoned with?"

"An extract from the fungus Amanita phalloides," Bones answers, glancing at Spock. "Why'd you ask?"

Spock frowns slightly. "The captain has been acting strangely ever since he was beamed aboard."

Bones stares at Spock for a second before turning a way. "Strangely, Mr Spock?"

"Affirmative," Spock answers. "I am asking if you have noticed."

"Spock," Bones sighs, hearing the slight hint of worry in Spock's tone. "Jim was taken prisoner. He's run miles through a forest, chased by the people who took him captive. And all the while he had the mental and emotional strain of not knowing what happened to the rest of the landing party, two of whom are some of his closest friends. Then he returns to the ship to find it on red alert and then one of his oldest friends is poisoned. Did it ever occur to you he's simply stressed?"

"It occurred," Spock answers. "I dismissed it."

"You would." Bones answers rolling his eyes. "Just speak your mind Spock… You know what I mean!"

Spock folds his arms over his chest. "The captain knew what the lieutenant had been poisoned with, by simply tasting the drink the lieutenant had consumed. The captain also knew that the lieutenant was in danger, when there was no reason for him to even suspect the lieutenant to have come to harm."

Bones shakes his head slightly. "Jim had a life before Starfleet, Spock. He had a job, he and a friend worked together as research scientists. It doesn't surprise me that Jim knew the fungus used, he specialised in finding ways to stop fungus' destroying crops in the hopes it would solve the famine problems many colonies suffer from. He'd have to be able to identify fungi accurately, which would include what it tastes like."

Spock raises an eyebrow, recalling Jim asking him about Dr Thomas Leighton. "Was the research scientists Dr Thomas Leighton?"

"Yeah," Bones answers, seeing Spock's raised eyebrow he sighs again. "I know you're worried about him-"

"Worry is a human emotion, doctor."

"Damn it, you green-blooded hobgoblin, just listen," Bones snaps. "I've found Jim generally knows what he's doing. If there's something going on with Jim, he won't let it affect with his duty as captain and sooner or later he'll be back in here moaning about, just give him some time."

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**JT and Tom ducked down into a ditch about half a mile from the colony and quickly crouched down. Between them stood an opening, big enough for them to walk through if they ducked. It was the old sewage outlet from when the colony was first built, it hadn't been used in years and was there safest way into the colony.**

"**Remind me again, how you know about this?" JT questions, staring into the tunnel, which only appeared to lead into a swirling mass of darkness.**

**Tom grins slightly. "Before you moved here I didn't have many friends, so I used to go exploring on my own… One day I just happened upon this tunnel and later found out it runs under the colony."**

"**You just happened to find it?" JT answers. "So there's a chance Kodos will know about this?"**

"**It's possible," Tom answers. "But we have an advantage."**

"**And what's that?" JT asks, picking up a stone and throwing it into the tunnel.**

"**I have a map." Tom answers.**

**JT glances at Tom. "Let me guess, you don't have it with you."**

**Tom glares at JT for a second. "No, but I know where it is."**

"**At your house?" JT questions. "We don't have time for this, Tom, we need supplies and we can't afford to get caught because you have a map."**

"**But if we have the map, we'll be able to get through the tunnels faster and know where we're going," Tom points out. "It will save us time in the long run."**

**JT sighs slightly. "Tom, it's been a week since the massacre… Every single one of Kodos' men is hunting for us, with orders to shoot on sight. They have our pictures on wanted posters and anyone who is seen helping us will be executed. It only takes one person to see us and alert Kodos' men and we're doomed."**

"**Then we wait until its dark." Tom answers.**

**JT rolls his eyes. "Are you sure this is even safe? This takes us right under the part of the colony Kodos wiped out with biochemical weapons, what if it got into the tunnels?"**

"**He either used gas or he contaminated the water supply," Tom answers. "Contaminating the water would have been easier, this side of the colony has a different water storage unit. Plus gas in an open area is much harder to control."**

"**I know that! But that doesn't answer my question, is it safe?" JT questions.**

"**If it's in the water," Tom answers. "That means you'd have to drink it and drink a lot of it."**

"**If you're sure." JT mutters, glancing into the tunnel again.**

**Tom smiles slightly. "I made you watch all those old movies, did you learn nothing?"**

**JT glares at Tom. "You do realise I wasn't old enough to watch most of those movies, don't you?"**

"**Made it all the more fun," Tom answers. "Plus you could say it prepared us for this."**

"**Nothing could have prepared us for this," JT answers. "So who's going first?"**

"**After you." Tom gestures for JT to go first.**

**JT rolls his eyes. "Right before we go, let's go over the plan one more time… I'm getting food, weapons and medical supplies."**

"**And I'm getting camping equipment, clothing and anything else I can find." Tom nodes.**

**JT smiles slightly. "We meet back here in three hours."**

"**And if one of us hasn't returned, we hide our packs and go back. If the other has been caught, try and save them, but if you can't without being killed, get out as fast as you can and return to the mountains with the supplies." **

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed reading that chapter.

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	16. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter fifteen:

**JT slowly pushed the manhole cover up and slid it across the pavement, before pulling himself out of the sewer. Glancing up and down the alley he was in, JT quietly puts the manhole cover back in place. Standing as close to the walls can, JT makes his way along the alley hidden in the shadows. Kodos' men had been on higher alert lately and it was becoming harder to steal food without being caught.**

**Glancing down at the shot gun in his hand, JT shakes his head. He hoped he'd never have to use it, but it was too much of a risk to enter the colony without a weapon. He and Tom were the only two who sneaked into the colony to seal food, if one of them was to get injured or killed, their chances of survival would be half what they currently were.**

**Peering around the wall and out into the street, JT looked for any signs of life. Since Kodos had introduced a curfew, it was slowly becoming harder to get around without being noticed. Stepping out of the alleyway, JT walks along the pavement, meeting close to the wall and glancing round, serving his surroundings and keeping his body ready to bolt at a moment's notice.**

**He acted like an animal being hunted, always alert, even when resting. But it wasn't like they hand much of a choice, one false move and they could all end up dead. JT Can't help but wince slightly as he sees someone watching him through their window across the street, but they quickly move out of sight. So far he and Tom had been lucky, nobody had reported them, and even with the punishment of death if they were caught not reporting them. **

**But all that could change in a second. It only took one person to be caught helping them or caught not reporting them and they'd be killed… That would scare people, it would make them realise Kodos is being serious. It was human nature to survive and to do anything in order to survive, because when it comes down to the crunch, people will almost always value their own lives over that of a stranger, even if they were just a kid.**

**Turning a corner, JT comes to a sudden halt. There in the middle of the square, right in front of the notice board, was a pile of bodies. A man, a women and two children. Glancing round, JT quickly makes his way over to the bodies. On the notice board above them was a single notice reading: **_**This is what happens when you don't abide by the law. Anyone caught aiding the nine escapees will be executed. Signed governor Kodos.**_

**JT ducks on instinct, as a bullet embeds itself in the notice board beside him. Gagging slightly as he forced to use the pile of bodies as cover, JT stares at the man approaching, he was one of Kodos' men and his was changing his rifle for a weapon more suitable for short range attacks. He was going to die, of he didn't shot first. Without a second though, JT readies his shot gun, clicks off the safety and pulls the trigger.**

**The man falls to the ground, as the echo of the shot bounces off the building surrounding the square. For a moment JT just kneels they, the realisation of what he'd just done finally setting in. He'd just killed someone. Looking down at the weapon in his hands, JT can only stare at it as his hands begin to shake. His breathing becomes rapid and shallow. Somewhere in the back of his mind, it registers he's going into shock.**

**The sudden sound of running feet snaps JT out of his slight daze and his shoulders his weapon, almost like his body if working on autopilot, be runs in the direction he knows will get him out of the colony safely if Kodos' men don't catch up with him. Sprinting along the roads and pavements, JT slowly gets further and further ahead of Kodos' men, ducking into alleyways and taking short cuts he knew they wouldn't. **

**Finally having lost them, JT pulls up a manhole cover and climbs down into the sewer, pulling the manhole cover back into place above him. Standing still for a moment, JT tries to catch his breaths as a wave of light-headiness hits him. When he finally gets his breathing back under control, he beings making his way back to the mountains, the shaking in his arms slowly getting worse, he can feel his heart hammering against his chest, the adrenaline was finally beginning to wear off and he simply hoped he made it back before he passed out. **

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Sighing, Jim switches the screen of his compute off. He had just finished speaking with Admiral Archer and the conversation hadn't gone well. Dropping his head into his hands, Jim groans. Why did everything that happened to him have to be so complicated? Why couldn't just one thing that happened to him be straightforward? He knew for a fact his counterpart in the other universe had suffered through Tarsus IV, just like he had and so had Kevin and Tom… So why did the aftermath of the two events have to be so different?

Admiral Archer had told him, if he or Kevin told anyone about what happened on Tarsus IV, they were a risk of getting court martialled. Jim shook his head, this was all because the fungus that had supposedly destroyed most of the crops had been introduced to Tarsus IV by a plant Starfleet had claimed would help the species which were dying in Tarsus IV's many forests. Starfleet was simply trying to cover up the fact their mistake lead to the deaths of four thousand people.

But Starfleet wasn't to blame for the actions of a mad man. It was Kodos who was a fault, he had failed to contact Starfleet when he knew food was becoming limited, even when Starfleet had warned him the supplies they had just dropped off may not be enough to last until their next drop off. They, Jim knew, had followed the standard procedures put in place when famines occur or when food is limited.

But Jim also knew, if the truth got out, people wouldn't blame Kodos, they would blame Starfleet. They'd be angry at Starfleet. People already were, after all Starfleet had arrived at Tarsus too late to prevent the executions and the deaths which occurred after. Ever since then, Starfleet's public image hadn't been what it was before. Many had lost faith, it was part of the reason Pike had been so desperate to keep Jim in command after the whole episode with braking the prime directive to save Spock. The public liked him, his and the crews actions with Nero had helped restore some of that lost faith.

Behind him the doors to his quarters slide open and someone enters the room. Recognising the sound of their footsteps, Jim smiles but he doesn't move from the position he's in. He frowns slightly as he realises the only reason they'd be here was if beta shift had ended, had he really been speaking to Admiral Archer that long?

"Carol." Jim greets.

"Jim." Carol answers.

Sitting up, Jim turns and looks at Carol, before gesturing to the seat on the other side of his desk. The two of them sit in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. Jim knew why she was here. Carol was one of the few people Jim knew, who knew both Kevin and Tom. She also knew they were close, she didn't know exactly how the three of them had meet, but Jim knew she had her suspicions and knowing her she more than likely right.

"I heard what happened to Kevin," Carol suddenly speaks up. "I know you two are close."

Jim nodes. "We are."

"Have you contacted Tom?" Carol asks.

"He's dead, Carol." Jim answers. "Kev and I… we're the only ones left."

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**Tom slowly moved forward, following JT's lead, as they made their way along the edge of the river towards where a group of Kodos' men had stopped. They were too close to the cave, so Tom had decided it was necessary they created some track leading them away from their cave, in the hopes it would fool them long enough so JT and Tom could find a safer place to hide, hopefully out of reach of Kodos and his men. **

**But JT was convinced that they wouldn't find their current hiding place, but he wasn't prepared to risk the lives of the others just because he thought they wouldn't be found. So he'd agreed with Tom and so the two of them had come up with a plan, but first they had to create the false trail, which JT wasn't sure was necessary, but again he wasn't prepared to risk the lives of the others.**

**After all this was his fault, even if the others didn't agree with him. He had killed one of Kodos' men and as a result, Kodos had ordered every single one of his men to search for them and to kill all of them, apart from JT, on sight. He still hadn't forgiven himself for killing the man like he had, but as he kept telling himself, he had no choice it was kill or be killed. Kodos had even gone as far as to put up poster offing rewards for their deaths or capture, just like an old cowboy western movie.**

**JT suddenly holds up his hand, causing Tom to stop. Glancing round, JT suddenly pulls Tom down and ducking behind a wide tree trunk. Putting a finger to his lips, JT signals Tom to stay silent. Tom nodes and JT smiles slightly. Not far from them, footsteps can be heard, by the sounds of it, it was two or more men.**

"**Let's just get back to camp, mate." A voice sounds.**

"**I told, I saw something," A second voice answers. "If we can catch a couple of those punks, Kodos will give us the reward."**

"**Yeah," The first one snorts. "But I highly doubt, those 'punks' will be stupid enough to get this close to our camp, when they know every single one of us are out for their heads!"**

"**They need food," The first points out. "We have food. It would be far safer to steal from our camp than to enter the colony, like they've been doing since all this started."**

"**They're just kids!" A third voice suddenly snaps. "I saw the one who shot Adams in the square, he couldn't have been any older than fourteen! We've been ordered to hunt down children and all you can think about is the reward!"**

"**I'd rather kill a punch of kids, than face the firing squad!" The first voice replies. "Plus, this fourteen year old kid killed one of us! Who to say he won't kill us, if we cross his path, huh? Who's to say I didn't just see him and he's sitting in one of these trees just waiting for a clear shot?"**

**Tom and JT share a look, they thought he was a killer! Just wanting to kill them, if given the chance. JT had never killed before, he hadn't even dreamed of it! Of course there had been times when he had just wished Frank would die, but he had never thought about killing him. And he would never forgive himself for killing the man, Adams, like he had, but if he had to do it again, he would.**

**JT eyes widen slightly. He'd kill again of he had to. Maybe he wasn't any different to Kodos, he killed just like he had, the only difference was JT had killed one man as where Kodos had executed thousands. JT had killed to save his own life and it turn the lives of the others. As where Kodos had killed thousand to save those he deemed worthy of survival.**

**JT suddenly shakes his head slightly, he was nothing like Kodos, he'd killed because he had to. He had no other choice it was the only way to survive. But Kodos, he could have asked for help, for more supplies, it would have taken Starfleet a month maybe two at the most to get here. There was enough food to feed four thousand people for three maybe four months, which would have been enough time for everyone to survive, if Kodos had simply asked for help.**

**JT had never asked for help, always thinking it would make him look weak, that was what Frank had told him, and those who asked for help were weak and cowardly. Maybe Kodos believed the same thing, maybe he thought he'd look weak and cowardly. JT shut his eyes for a second, that was no excuse. He'd live his whole life with the word coward and weak written across his forehead, if it could simply save one more person.**

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed reading that chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	17. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter sixteen:

"**Kev!" JT yells from where he's standing as the cliff Kevin was standing on crumbles below his feet.**

**Kevin glances up, meeting JT's gaze as the cliff below him disappears completely and Kevin falls with it. JT running before even has a chance to think about what he's doing, crashing to his knees at the new cliff edge and looks down at the cloud of dust fifteen feet below.**

**As the dust clears, JT sees Kevin lying unconscious half covered by rubble and sediment. Glancing round, JT makes a split second decision. It would waste too much time to go back to the cave and get help.**

**Turning and lowering himself over the cliff edge JT begins to climb, his hands slipping every now and again. As he nears the bottom, his hand catches on a jagged rock, cutting open his palm. Hissing JT jumps the last couple of feet to the ground, turning he runs and collapses to the ground beside Kevin.**

"**Kev?" JT mutters, tapping his cheeks. "Come on, Kev, don't do this. You have to be okay."**

**Moving his hands, JT pulls Kevin's eyelids open, checking his pupils. The right pupil was slightly more dilated than the left. Shifting his hands, JT begins to check Kevin's neck for any signs of injuries, whilst trying to move him as little as possible. It had been one of the first things his aunt taught him, don't move people with neck or back injuries.**

**Finding nothing to cause concern, JT breaths a small sigh of relief. If Kevin had suffered a neck injury, that would have been it for him. With no way into the colony to receive medical treatment, Kevin would have had no hope. Suddenly Kevin groans.**

"**Kev?!" JT questions. "Kev, can you hear me?"**

"**Five more minutes." Kevin mumbles rolling over.**

**JT frowns, memory loss was a sign of a serious head injury and could mean more damage than the surface wound had been done.**

"**Kev?" JT questions. "What's the last thing you remember?"**

**Kevin's still for a moment, before he suddenly bolts upright, causing JT to grip his arm to stop him falling backwards as he sways.**

"**Easy," JT mutters. "Not so fast."**

"**The cliff," Kevin mutters. "The cliff collapsed…"**

"**I know, you fell with it, in case you hadn't noticed," JT points out, trying to ease the tension in the air. "Now hold still I need to check you didn't injure your back."**

**Finding nothing but bruises on Kevin's back, JT breaths another sigh of relief. The only thing Kevin was showing signs of was a mild concussion, which he'd survive if his symptoms didn't begin to show it was anything worse than a mild concussion.**

"**Can you stand?" JT questions, getting to his feet.**

"**I think so," Kevin answers. "I just feel a bit dizzy, like I've been spun around to many times."**

**JT nodes. "You have a mild concussion, dizziness is a symptom of that… Here."**

**JT holds out his hand, which Kevin quickly takes, stepping back JT pulls Kevin to his feet. For a second Kevin stands there, before letting out a pained cry and falling back to the ground.**

"**Kev!" JT exclaimed in alarm. "What wrong?! What hurts?!"**

**Kevin tries to control his breathing, drawing in shaky breaths, tears rolling down his cheeks.**

"**My-my… My ankle." Kevin finally gasps out.**

**Kneeling down next to Kevin's feet, JT glances up at Kevin. **

"**Which ankle?" He questions.**

"**My-y le-left." Kevin answers.**

"**This is going to hurt," JT warms. "But to check your ankle I need to remove your boot."**

"**Ju-st do… do it."**

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Spock stepped out of the turbo lift and onto the bridge. Inclining his head in greeting to the crew on duty he makes his way over to the science station, which was currently vacant of any officers. Sitting down in the chair, Spock flicks a switch on the station in front of him, switching on the computer.

"Library computer." The computer announces as it comes online.

"Full personal dossier on the following names, Doctor Thomas Leighton, Lieutenant Kevin Riley and…" Spock hesitates for a second. "Captain James T. Kirk."

Spock waits for a minute as the compute processes the necessary files. He knew it was highly likely that the captain would not approve of this, he reaction to being questioned in the medical bay proved that, but it was Spock's job as first officer to ensure the captains safety.

"Accomplished," The computer announces. "Standing by."

"Correlate," Spock commands. "Check their past histories, report any item or past episode or experience they all have in common."

"Affirmative." The computer answers.

Turned in his seat as he waited for the computer to correlate the files, as much as he had told McCoy worry was a human emotion, he couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy about the results the computer would yield. The captain had spoken about him and the lieutenant, being the only two left, implying that there had been more and they were all dead.

Spock knew the captain never spoke about his past and if it was ever bought up in conversation, he skilful changed the subject or simply laughed it off saying there wasn't much to know. The only time the captain had ever spoken about his past was when he had no other choice.

There had been a couple of missions where a similar thing had happened in the captains past and explaining what had happened was vital to the success of the mission. The one that stood out the most in his memory was when they had faced an unknown entity which consumed all the haemoglobin from the beings it encountered.

The captain had faced it before whilst on a training exercise at the academy, where he had served as first officer on the USS Farragut, under captain Garrovick. Half the crew had been killed by the entity and the captain had witnessed the aftermath, along with another member of the current crew.

"Correlation complete." The computer suddenly announces.

Turning in his seat, Spock faces the science station once more and stares at the screen. There was only one thing all three had in common. All three of them had a class one classification see on their files, ending on the same date.

Frowning slightly, Spock looks up more information on the seal. The said seal was enforced by the Starfleet admiralty and the seal could also be found on six other people's files, all of whom are dead. Spock quickly gets to his feet and heads towards the turbo lift, he needed to speak to the captain.

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"**You ready?" JT asks.**

**Kevin nodes and holds out his hand. Just like before, JT pulls Kevin to his feet, only his time Kevin didn't collapse back down to the ground. Pulling one of Kevin's right arm around his shoulders, JT puts his left arm around Kevin's waist and manages to keep both himself and Kevin upright.**

**The fall had fractured Kevin's left ankle, JT was only thankful it wasn't a complete break. If his ankle had been broken, his chances of survive would have gone down considerably, as a broken ankle was far harder to treat and took far longer to heal. Also if a broken bone was set wrong, it could cause major problems.**

"**Why didn't you just leave me?" Kevin suddenly questions, as they begin moving.**

**JT glances at Kevin briefly, before turning his attention to the surrounding area, watching for any signs of Kodos' men.**

"**Why would I leave you?" JT asks in answer.**

"**Because I'm injured." Kevin answers. "And now we're going to get caught and killed and it's all my fault."**

"**Kev, listen to me," JT answers. "You're the closest thing I have to a family now, you and the other, you're all I have left… You never leave family behind."**

**A noise up ahead catches JT attention.**

"**Crap!" JT mutters. "Come on, this way."**

**JT begins leading them to the right, towards a small ridge which could offer them a hiding place. Lowering Kevin to the ground, JT moves away slightly and watches as Kodos' men appear up ahead. There were eight men in total, all carrying multiple weapons.**

**Sitting down beside Kevin, JT shakes his head.**

"**We'll have to wait until they pass," JT mutters, keeping his voice low. "There's too many of them to fight and we can't outrun them."**

"**This is my fault," Kevin replies. "I'm so sorry."**

"**Kev," JT warns. "This isn't your fault. They're not going to catch us, we're not going to die and I will never leave you behind, no matter what happens. We'll be safe here as long as they don't come any closer. The ground is too dry here to leave tracks, we're safe Kev."**

**Kevin stares at JT. "You promise."**

"**I swear," JT answers. "That for a long as I live, I will always protect you. That I will always do whatever I can to keep you safe, no matter what the cost. You are my brother in all but blood, Kev, and I will always do my best to keep you safe."**

**Kevin smiles weakly. "Thanks brother."**

**JT smiles. "Now all we have to do is sit here and wait for Kodos' men to pass and prey they don't find us… Have you eve heard of an old earth game called 'rock, paper, scissors'?" **

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed reading that chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	18. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter seventeen:

"**We need to move now!" JT exclaimed as he runs not the cave.**

**Tom looks up. "What?"**

"**We have to get out of here!" JT answers, gathering up their stuff and shoving it into the packs they had. "Kodos knows where we're hiding… His men are on their way here."**

"**Are you sure?" Tom asks. "How could they have found out?"**

"**I don't know!" JT mutters. "But we have to leave right now!"**

"**What about Kev?" Tom questions. "His ankle is still healing."**

"**I know," JT answers. "We'll have to support him."**

"**It'll slow us down," Tom replies. "Can't we just distract them? Lead them away?"**

"**You don't understand, Tom," JT snaps. "They know our location, they have the coordinates of our exact location… There must have been a tracking device on something we stole from the colony."**

"**I think I know what's lead them here." Tom suddenly speaks up.**

"**What?"**

"**The weapon I stole," Tom answers. "It had a comm unit on it… I thought I had disabled it."**

**JT shakes his head. "The comm's here can't be tracked, Tom."**

"**Here," Tom hands JT the weapon. "Have a look."**

"**We don't have time now, Tom. We need to get out of here right now! We'll have to leave it behind and hope that's what lead them here."**

**JT spins on his heels. "EVERYONE LISTEN UP! We need to get out of here right now! Everyone grab a pack and move. COME ON, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! HURRY UP! MOVE IT!"**

**And suddenly the cave was a flurry of movement as everyone moved to follow JT's orders. Once everyone was ready and standing at the mouth of the cave, the younger children holding onto the slightly older children's hands, JT adjusts the pack on his back and joins Tom beside Kevin, moving forward, both Tom and JT pull on of Kevin's arms over their shoulders and pull him to his feet.**

"**Right everyone," JT calls. "Once we leave the cave, follow the route which leads deeper into the mountains. We're going to be behind you, but if you hear me or Tom yelling for you to run, run! Find a cave and keep quiet, okay?"**

"**Yes, JT." Everyone answers.**

"**Good." JT smiles slightly. "Now whatever happens I want you to keep calm and be careful where you stand, we're going to be passing some highly unstable ground. But you'll be okay if you remember what Tom and I have taught you."**

**Everyone nodes, but JT could see how nervous they all were, the youngest ones struggling under the weight of the packs on their backs. Sighing slightly JT wondered how long they could keep this up for, everyone was under weight, but it had reached dangerous levels yet and Kodos and his men were drawing closer and closer every day, sending them deeper and deeper in the mountains.**

"**Who's up for a game of I-spy?" JT suddenly speaks up, he needed to lighten the mood what better way than with a game. "But remember we have to be really quiet."**

"**Can I go first, JT?" Connor asks.**

"**Sure." JT answers, as they begin moving.**

"**I-spy with my little eye something beginning with…" **

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Sitting at the desk in his private office in the medical bay, Dr McCoy finished writing his report on Lieutenant Kevin Riley's condition, now all he need was for the captain to sign it off. That was one reason why McCoy never envied the captain, he unlike the captain all had to read and sign off medical reports, as where the captain had to read and sign off report from ever department.

Placing his PADD down on the desk, McCoy reaches up and rubs his temples, it had been a long day. He'd been pulling a double shift, which could soon turn into a triple shift, thanks to the away team's mission going wrong, much to the annoyance of nurse chapel, who bore the brunt of McCoy crankiness from lack of sleep.

Suddenly his PADD beeps, indicating a message had come through. He had the captain to thanks for that, when he had first received the PADD, alerts, messages and any other noise related indications had had the same single beep. The captain had simple hacked into the PADD's mainframe and altered something, meaning every alert had different tune.

Picking up the PADD, McCoy opens the message.

_Bones,_

_We need to talk. It's personal and it's important, so I don't need any of your doctor crap, okay? I just need a friend._

_JT Kirk._

McCoy frowns slightly at the way the captain had signed the message, it was no different to usual and it wouldn't have bothered him, if he hadn't overheard Kevin and the captain greeting each other on multiple occasions. Kevin always called captain 'JT' off duty, never 'Jim', 'James' or even 'Kirk'. Coming to think of it, Kevin was the only one he had ever heard call the captain JT.

Getting to his feet, McCoy picks up the PADD and leaves his office and heads out of sickbay, he might as well get the captain to sign of his report before they had this talk, after all signing off reports didn't come under the captains definition of 'doctor crap'.

"Nurse Chapel," He calls over his shoulder. "If there are any changes in any of the patient's conditions, page Doctor M'Benga if I haven't returned."

"Yes, Dr McCoy." Nurse chapel answers.

McCoy nodes and leaves the medical bay. Hurrying down the corridor, McCoy heads for the turbo lift. The lift doors open and McCoy steps in, only noticing as the doors shut that Spock is standing on the far side of the lift, his face even more emotionless than normal, but his eyes held a storm of emotion that he'd never admit to.

"Spock." McCoy greets after telling the lift where to go.

"Doctor McCoy." Spock answers.

Rolling his eyes, McCoy prays that the lift hurries up. There was nothing worse than being stick in a lift alone with an emotionless green-blooded hobgoblin! The lift arrives at the captain floor and McCoy is only slightly surprised Spock exits the lift with him. They walk side by side until they reach the door to the captain's quarter and McCoy knocks on the door.

"Come." The captain announces and the door slides open.

The captain was sitting at his desk, writing something down on a piece of paper, he glances up and a look of surprise crosses his face as he sees Spock. Spock opens his mouth to speak, but McCoy beats him to it.

"My report on Kevin Riley." McCoy explains, handing the PADD to the Jim.

"Will he make it?"

"He has a good chance," McCoy answers, folding his arms over his chest. "The antidote had been administered, given a couple days rest he'll be a right as rain. But I would recommend only light duty for a few days after, just in case there is a relapse."

"Can we predict the same for you captain?" Spock suddenly asks.

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"**Shhhh!" JT hisses suddenly.**

**Immediately everyone falls silent, behind them in the distance the sounds of dogs barking and sound of men walking could be heard.**

"**Damn it." JT mutters. "There catching up."**

"**Leave me," Kevin speaks up. "I'm slowing you all down."**

"**No!" JT exclaimed. "I won't leave you behind, Kev."**

"**If you don't, we'll all die and it'll be my fault." Kevin argues.**

**JT shakes his head. "We keep going. All of us."**

**As the barking, footsteps and shouting behind them becomes increasingly louder, JT knows he's going to have to make an incredibly hard decision. Kevin was slowing them all down, but JT refused to leave him behind.**

"**Please," Kevin begs. "Just leave me. You can't die for me."**

"**Kev, for the last time. We. Are. Not. Leaving. You. Behind!" JT snaps.**

**Up ahead of them the younger members of the group had stopped. Coming up behind them, JT smiles. This was perfect. Before the, were two gorges, running away from each other.**

"**Which way?" Tom asks.**

"**Take the right one," JT answers. "Follow it until you reach the stream. Once you reach the stream walk in the shallow water and walk upstream, it'll hide you're sent from the dogs. Get as deep into the mountains as you can and find somewhere to set up camp."**

"**Why where are you going?" Tom demands.**

"**I'm going to lead them down the left gorge," JT answers. "Lead them as far from you as I can. I promise, once it's safe, I'll follow you."**

"**JT that's suicide!" Tom exclaimed. "They'll catch you and kill you!"**

**JT smiles. "But you'll all be safe… Plus they'll have to catch me before they can kill me. I'm much faster than they are and I can fit through gaps they can't."**

"**JT…" Tom begs.**

"**Go! Go now!" JT answers. "I promise I'll come back. Now go."**

**Kodos men were getting even closer. Tom looks at JT.**

"**You swear?" He asks.**

"**I swear." JT answers.**

**Tom nodes and begins leading the others towards the gorge.**

"**We can't do this!" Kev exclaimed. "We can't let him do this!"**

"**JT knows what he's doing," Tom answers, dragging Kevin with him. "If we don't go now, it'll all be for nothing."**

**JT watches them until there out of side, following the gorge as it twisters out of view. Taking a deep breath, turns his attention towards where Kodos' men are approaching from. As the first one steps into view, JT smiles.**

"**Oi! Over here, asshat!" JT yells, before turning and running down the opposite gorge to the one the others had gone down.**

**As Kodos' men charge after him, all JT can think about is how the others were safe and that the promise he had made Tom and the others would be broken, after all JT knew this gorge lead to a dead end and cliff faces too smooth to climb **

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed reading that chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	19. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter eighteen:

**"My, my," Kodos mocked as JT was forced into the seat across from him. "What do we have here? I do believe its James T. Kirk."**

**"My name is JT." JT hissed, glaring at the man who had successfully destroyed the life he had built for himself on Tarsus IV. The man who had caused the deaths of his aunt and uncle and four thousand others. The man whose own daughter had died as a result of his orders.**

**Kodos laughed, but it held no humour. "Now, now, James that's no way to speak to your governor."**

**"You are a murderer!" JT growled. "You will never be anything more than a mass murderer."**

**"No, James. You see, I'm the saviour, the Messiah! I have saved this colony from all the evils held within in it. From all those who didn't belong here and bought nothing but shame upon this colony. They will remember me as a hero, saving all those I could, whilst others simply fell prey to the fungus and died… Now that's my problem, see, you and your little friends are the spanner in the works."**

**JT stared Kodos in the eyes and saw something lurking below the surface, an unknown glitter of something dangerous. "You're insane!"**

**"No," Kodos smirked. "I'm simply fulfilling a promise I made to my dear Colette. She was such a beautiful women. You see, Colette was born on this planet and she despised everyone who moved here. She always claimed; 'those who moved here had no respect for the order' and she was right."**

**JT just stared at Kodos. Who in their right mind would make someone promise to wipe out half the population? And what's more, who would agree to do it?**

**"You're aunt and uncle for example," Kodos continued. "They moved to this planet, bought a nice home and wanted to start a family. But then your aunt got a part time job at the hospital and before you could even blink, she had a full time job as a doctor. Then there is your uncle, who started his own business! That's not how it works here! That's not how Colette wanted it to work! Those who have been here longer should be the ones who get the best paid jobs! There is a social hierarchy and those who move here have no regard for that!"**

**Kodos paused and stared straight into JT's eyes.**

**"All those you should have died with, moved to this planet in the last fifteen years. They and their families were unworthy of living on this planet, so they had to go."**

**"You're mad!" JT exclaimed, trying to push the images of the massacre out of his mind. "You're completely and utterly mad!"**

**"Then there were the others!" Kodos said darkly. "All the people Colette couldn't stand! You see Colette had always been interested in eugenics. She even had her own theories; the ultimate human race, the supreme beings! - All those who died on that side of the colony, they were the types of people Colette couldn't stand, the ones that weren't worthy of life!"**

**"What about your daughter?" JT suddenly questioned. "Did you order her death too?"**

**Kodos gave JT a hard look. "Lenore was beautiful, but she was nothing like Colette wanted. Colette wanted a daughter who could sing, dance beautiful ballet and speak multiple languages. Who would sit and read, draw pictures and speak properly. Not hang around with those of lower class, or go out hiking, rock climbing or go wild swimming in lakes. Like she was so fond of doing with you and the others! Colette would have despised her, so she had to go. Just like you and the others, the revolution must be successful." **

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"Can we predict the same for you captain?" Spock suddenly asks.

"What?!" Bones exclaimed but before he can continue, he's silenced by the glare Jim sends him.

"Alright, Mr Spock." Jim sighs. "Let's hear it."

"Both you and the lieutenant have a grade one classification seal on your personal dossiers'. In total there are nine people with such seals on their files, ending on the same date as yours and the lieutenant's."

"Alright." Jim mutters, signing off the report and handing it back to Bones.

"All of them apart from you and the lieutenant are dead. You said you and the lieutenant were the only two left. It is logical to accept you will be the next target. I must ask you what information that seal is containing."

"Aren't you getting a little out of line, Mr Spock" Jim answers, glaring at him. "My personal business-"

"Is my personal business. When it might interfere with the smooth operation of this ship or endanger the life its captain." Spock effortlessly cut Jim off.

"Do you understand what you're asking me to do, Spock?!" Jim suddenly snaps, getting to his feet and slamming his hands down on his desk. He faced Spock, who had moved to stand on the other side of the desk. "Those files are sealed for a reason. Do you have any idea how much trouble I could get into, if I even mentioned one thing off those files? "

"Jim!" McCoy shouted. "Spock's simply trying to-"

"I know what he's doing, Bones." Jim frowned, turning to his best friend. "It's his job. But, you have to understand. Those files are protected for a reason."

"A reason?" Bones questions. "The Kobayashi Maru was there for a reason, but that didn't stop you breaking the rules. Even when it could have got you kicked out of academy! We're talking about your life here, if what the elf said is true."

Spock raises an eyebrow at the term 'elf' and if it had been any other time, Jim would have laughed, but this was too serious a topic. Even if they weren't talking about this, he would have had too much on his mind.

"I may not agree with the reason, but I'm not going to go against Starfleet on this. The consequences are too high." Jim answers. "This doesn't just affect Kev and myself. It could endanger the whole of Starfleet!"

"God damn it, Jim! What have you gotten yourself into this time?" Bones queries.

Jim just shakes his head and looks away. "Anger overrules all rational thoughts. When you're angry you don't stop to think about the facts or read between the lines. Cause and consequence. Starfleet was the cause, so in theory they are to blame for the consequences."

"I don't care!" Bones snaps. "Your life is in danger, Jim! Don't you care about that?"

Jim doesn't answer. The room fills with silence for a good minute, before Spock speaks up.

"An attempt on your life is highly probable. Why do you invite death?"

"I'm not." Jim answers, pitching the bridge of his nose. "But you have to understand I will not risk the safety of the federation, by talking about this."

"You don't trust us." Bones said, causing Jim to wince slightly at the underlying tone of hurt in Bones' voice.

"I trust you with my life," Jim quickly replied. "But this is something I just can't talk about."

"Listen." Spock suddenly orders, stopping all conversation. "There is a low humming sound in the room."

Jim turns and looks round. "It's a phaser."

"On overload, Captain." Spock answers, his voice pitched ever so slightly higher than usual.

Instantly Spock and Bones jumped into action and started looking around the room for where the phaser could be hidden. As Bone's cursed under his breath about how 'this wasn't what he signed up for' and 'why did he ever follow his best friend into space.'

"This is the captain," Jim quickly announces, speaking into the comm at his desk. "There is a phaser on overload in my quarters. If it blows, it will take out the entire deck. Evacuate the area immediately. Double red alert, I repeat, double red alert."

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**JT tried to get free as he was dragged in to the compounds courtyard by two of Kodos' men. However their grip on his arms were too strong and tight to wiggle free from. Even if he did escape, he'd be killed in a matter of seconds. The yard was surrounded by more of Kodos' men, all armed and ready to shoot should he even make an attempt to escape.**

**As he was tied to the wooden post, his chest flat against the smooth wood, he couldn't help but shudder and shiver. One of the men draws and knife and slices open the back of his top, pushing away the material and leaving the bare skin of his back exposed. It was close to midday and the sun was burning down. It was unusual for the weather to be this hot this late in the year, but it wasn't unheard of.**

**The Sun was the least of his worries at the moment.**

**As another one of Kodos' men entered the yard, JT glanced round, trying to see them. But all he saw was the black leather whip they carried in their hands. Staring straight ahead, JT tried to calm his racing heart. The mix of fear and adrenaline rushing through his veins made his body twitch and shudder, it can't decide on a flight or fight response.**

**As JT focused on calming his fast and shallow breathing, he tensed up, feeling someone close behind him. He had to relax, the damage would be so much worse if he was all tensed up, but his body didn't want to comply.**

**'I want flesh ripped from the bone. The boy can only be struck nine times, so make every single one count.' Had been Kodos' order. JT didn't doubt for a second that the man about to carry out this task, would do so.**

**He heard the first strike of the whip before feeling it. The sickening sound of toughened braided leather, hitting and cutting open bare flesh echoed in his ears. The feeling soon followed the sound, it was like nothing he had ever felt before. All of Frank's beatings put together couldn't even compare to this pain, as it spread across his back, with the burning sensation of a supernova.**

**The whip must have been coated in something, JT's mind concluded through the haze of pain. The burning spread and the second strike lands. It shouldn't hurt as much as it did, he was sure of it. Maybe it had been covered in poison, Kodos appeared sadistic enough to do such thing. **

**The taste of blood filled his mouth, it's only then that JT realises that he had bitten down on his lip hard, to stop himself crying out on pain. As the third strike lands, JT couldn't stop himself from screaming and crying out. He still had six strikes to go. **

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter, which has now been betaed by Katiikiinz (thank you so much for doing it). I'll try and update as soon as I can, until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	20. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter nineteen:

**JT sat in his cell, it had been five days since he had been whipped out in the compound. Kodos had ordered that his wounds be cleaned, as he didn't want JT to die before he had a chance to some fun. And JT knew what sort of fun Kodos had been implying. **

**The torture kind of fun.**

**JT shut his eyes, so far Kodos had left him alone, maybe he was waiting until he was a little stronger before they started torturing him. After all, where would the fun be in torturing someone who could barely move without wincing as it pulled at the poorly stitched wounds on their back? **

**So far Kodos hadn't shown much interest in where the others were. But JT knew what Kodos had told him was true, after all Kodos pointed that little fact out every time he visited him. The only reason they had survived so far was because he and Tom were taking it in turns to steal food and supplies from the colony and they were only just getting enough to live on.**

**But now JT was gone and it was only Tom stealing food and supplies, to make matters worse, JT hadn't heard any of the guards complaining about Tom sneaking into the colony, so maybe something had happened. They could all be starving to death out there and JT could do nothing to help.**

**Shutting his eyes, JT tried to convince himself this was what Kodos wanted. He wanted him to break. He wanted JT to believe that he had failed the others. That without him they were all dead or dying. A voice in the back of his mind kept telling him, humans could go without food for a couple weeks and survive, as long as they had water.**

**But they were only children, not fully grown adults!**

**But what could JT do? He was locked up in a cell, waiting for Kodos to either kill him or being torturing him. He could hardly move without causing himself almost unbearable amounts of pain, so even if he did escape from his cell, he wouldn't be able to run or fight. He didn't even have a weapon. **

**Shifting slightly, JT winced as the movement pulled at the injuries on his back. The one who had whipped him had followed Kodos' orders to the letter. It truly felt like had been ripped from the bone. He was glad he'd been the only one caught, the younger members of the nine wouldn't have been able to survive this.**

**JT shivered at the thought and bite his lip to stop himself from crying out, as the movement pulled at his injured back. If he ever got out of here, he'd do everything within his power to ensure the others never got caught and no matter what happened in the future he'd make sure Kodos paid for what he had done.**

**He might have the perfect cover story to tell Starfleet, but so long as JT had breath in his body, he'd never stop until Kodos had payed for what he'd done. Too many people had died for him to be allowed to get away with it. **

**Eugenics.**

**And madness.**

**That's what it had all been about.**

**Kodos' late wife Colette, had had her own theories of eugenics. And after her death Kodos had taken it upon himself to create her ideal colony. But for the life of him, JT couldn't understand how grief could drive someone to do something so devastating. His mother may have abandoned him in her grief over his father's death, but she didn't kill four thousand people!**

**JT knew Kodos was mad, he'd seen it. Could the death of one person really send you that far over the edge? If the death of the one you love enough to marry could do that to you, JT vowed to never fall in love. It would be lonely, but least he wouldn't go mad and kill four thousand people or abandon his children, if he ever had any. **

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"_This is the captain," Jim announces, speaking into the comm at his desk. "There is a phaser on overload in my quarters. If it blows it will take out the entire deck. Evacuate the area immediately. Double red alert, I repeat, double red alert."_

After alerting the crew to the situation, Jim quickly began helping Bones and Spock search for the phaser. Stepping around Bones and Spock as they searched, Jim began checking the hiding places he had created. He mostly hide weapons, food and supplies vital to survival. Old habits die hard, after all. Tarsus had taught him always be prepared.

Plus it didn't help over the years, that Jim had made quite a few enemies. Most of whom, would quite happily kill him, if they got the all of the hiding places as quickly as possible, Jim looks round. Whoever had placed the phaser in his quarters hadn't known about the hiding places Jim had created, most would likely have Bones questioning his sanity. Bones already thought he was too paranoid for his own good.

Moving quickly, Jim grabs hold of Bones by the arm and drags him towards where Spock is searching, close to the door and ignoring his best friends' complaints as he does so. He was about to let two of his closest friends get blown to pieces by his past... Something they didn't even know about and something he wasn't allowed to talk about.

"Go," Jim orders. "Get out of here. I'll find it, now go!"

"Captain-" Spock begins to protest, only to be cut off by Jim.

"Go, you need to get everyone clear of this deck." Jim answers, as he all but shoves Bones and Spock out into the corridor. "If it explodes it will destroy the entire deck!"

Spock nodes slightly and hurries off down the corridor.

"Bones..." Jim mutters, when the doctor refuses to move.

"Just... Be careful Jim." Bones replies. "And god damn it, if you can't find it, leave. I don't need to be picking up pieces of you and putting them back together like a jigsaw puzzle because you're a stubborn idiot!"

"When am I not careful, Bones?" Jim grins.

Bones just rolls his eyes and walks off down the corridor in the opposite direction to the way Spock had gone. Jim smiles as he heads back into his quarters, as he hears Bones yelling and growling at the crew who had yet to evacuate.

Without pausing for a second, Jim begins hunting for the phaser. But between him, Bones and Spock, almost everywhere had been checked. As the noise of the phaser on overload increases in pitch, Jim slams his hands over his ears and begins to move towards the door.

The phaser was only a matter of seconds away from going off. Glancing up at the red light flashing above the doorway, Jim's eyes widen slightly as he sees the silhouette of the phase. Without hesitating, Jim rushes forwards and quickly uncovers the light, pulling the phaser from where it was hidden.

Studying the phaser for a moment, Jim quickly works out it was a Starfleet issue phaser, which could only have come from the weapons department or from security and it was far too late to lower the setting.

It had to be disposed of and quickly.

The doors to his quarters slide open and Jim makes a quick exit, rushing over to the disposal shoot not far down the corridor from his room. Skidding to a halt in front of the disposal shoot, Jim wrenches the hatch open and drops the phases down it, slamming the hatch shut and letting out a sigh of relief.

He quickly holds up a hand as Bones and Spock appear from opposite directions, having cleared the deck of crewmembers. Suddenly an explosion rocks the ship, throwing Jim off balance and sending him crashing into a wall, as the phaser finally reaches its limit and explodes.

Bones is beside him in a matter of seconds. Meeting his friends gaze, Jim can't help but groan.

He knows that look.

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**JT bite down on his lip, to stop himself from crying out in pain, as he was once again dragged out into the court yard by a couple of Kodos' men. It seemed Kodos had finally got fed up with JT's refusal to answer his questions and decided JT was no longer of any use to him.**

**Hissing as his still sensitive back made contact with the post, as his wrists where tied together behind it, JT glared up at Kodos, who standing on a balcony overlooking the courtyard. In answer to JT's glare, Kodos simply smirked and his eyes seemed to gleam with madness.**

**The two men who had dragged JT out into the courtyard and tied him up, stepped away from him, while one draw a knife, the other walking halfway across the courtyard, turned to face him and loaded his rifle.**

**JT jumped slightly as the knife was thrown at his feet, looking up at the man who had done it, JT shot him a questioning look.**

"**If you want to get out of this alive, kid," The man spoke and JT was sure he had heard the voice before. "You're going to have to fight your way out. Fight for survival. It's do or die, kid."**

**Without waiting to see JT's reaction, the man turned and walked off, leaving the courtyard. Looking up, JT couldn't help but shudder slightly, as the rifle was aimed at him. Raising his head, he looked up at Kodos.**

**He refused to let Kodos see his fear. He was about to die. He was thirteen years old and he was about to die at the hands of a mad man. But he wasn't about to give Kodos the satisfaction of seeing him weep or beg for his life.**

**He was a Kirk and he would hold his head high even when facing death.**

**The man readjusted his aim and clicked off the safety. JT meet Kudos' gaze, even as his eyes started watering and his body began to shake in fear of his fast approaching death. Kodos raised his arm and bought it down.**

**Two shots rang out, less than a second apart. **

**JT watched his would be killer fall to the ground clutching his leg, at the same moment he felt something impact his left arm, level with his heart. For a second JT did nothing, everything around him seemed to have slowed down to a halt.**

**And then it seemed like time started up again and JT pulled his wrists free, picked up the knife and ran at the fallen man. Kicking the man's shoulder, JT sent him crashing backwards on to his back. In a second JT was sitting on his chest and covered in blood as he sliced the man's throat from ear to ear. **

**Picking up the fallen rifle, JT took aim and pulled the trigger. **

**Kodos fell.**

**And suddenly JT is being dragged backwards and it's only then the pain hit him. He let out and pained cry and suddenly Tom was in front of him.**

"**Just hold on, JT!" Tom muttered. "Once we're out of here, I'll treat the wound. But we need to get out of here, or we're both dead."**

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed reading that chapter. I'll try and update as soon as I can, until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	21. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter twenty:

**Tom glanced around before making his way out of the alleyway. It had only been the day before that he had been doing the same thing, the only difference had been that it was dusk, not the middle of the day.**

**Whilst he had been stealing food and supplies, a notice on the board in the main square had caught his attention. Kodos had declared a public execution at noon the following day, the execution of James Tiberius Kirk.**

**Thankful the execution was being broadcast live, rather than people gathering to watch it, giving Tom the chance to try and save JT. Ever since JT had been caught, their little group had slowly been falling apart. Kevin had hardly spoken a word and they were only just getting enough food.**

**As Tom sneaked through the town, keeping a look out for Kodos' men and praying no one looked out their windows and reported him. He had one chance to save JT and he had to time it perfectly, if anyone saw him, it would be game over.**

**As Kodos' compound finally came into sight, Tom was forced to duck out of sight as he noticed a patrol heading his way. Holding his breath, Tom shut his eyes and waited for them to pass. He knew this wasn't going to be easy, but he couldn't let his nerves get the better of him.**

**Once the patrol had vanished from sight, Tom took a deep breath and run for the compound. He came to a halt with his back to the wall and hidden deep in the shadows, Tom took a moment to calm down and look round, seeing if anyone had noticed his movements.**

**Sighing with relief, Tom turned and looked up at the wall. The only way he could get into the compound was by climbing up the wall. He knew without a doubt that JT would have been able to do it, JT was far better at rock climbing than he was.**

**Taking a look around one last time, Tom began to climb. The walls of the compound were old and decaying, meaning there were gaps Tom could use as foot holds. As he drew closer and closer to the top, Tom could feel his arms beginning to burn, but he couldn't let go, he had to save JT.**

**Pulling himself over the top of the wall, Tom landed on a small walkway, which run the length of the wall. Ducking down and edging forward, he looked down into the courtyard and watched as two men dragged JT out of the main building and tied him to the post in the centre of the yard.**

**Kodos appeared on a balcony and one of the men walked off, while the other prepared to shoot JT. Watching as Kodos raised his arm, Tom quickly raised his own weapon and took aim. Kodos bought his arm down and Tom pulled the trigger.**

**Even though Tom had been aiming for the man's chest, it hit his leg, causing his shot to go wide, but the bullet still hit JT. Not waiting to see if the man got up, Tom dashed down the walkway, heading for the ladder into the courtyard.**

**By the time he made it over to where JT had been tied up, JT had already moved and was sitting on his would-be-killers' chest. A knife in hand and covered in blood, he raised the rifle and shot Kodos. Tom watched Kodos fall, before he rushed forward and grabbed JT, pulling him backwards.**

**JT let out a pained cry and Tom quickly let go of him and rushed round to face him, he caught sight of JT's left arm, the bullet had left a nasty wound. Looking JT straight in the eyes, Tom could see the pain and fear held within them.**

"**Just hold on, JT!" Tom muttered. "Once we're out of here, I'll treat the wound. But we need to get out of here, or we're both dead."**

**JT stared at him for a moment. **

"**Tom?" He finally whispered like he couldn't really believe it.**

"**Yeah, JT. You didn't really think I'd leave you to die, did you?" Tom answered.**

"**You shouldn't have come," JT replied. "It's too dangerous!" **

"**Right." Tom agreed. "It is too dangerous, which is why we need to get out of here right now!" **

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_Bones is beside him in a matter of seconds. Meeting his friends gaze, Jim can't help but groan. _

_He knows that look._

McCoy glanced over his shoulder at Jim, who was sitting on one of the bio beds, chatting to Scotty, who thankfully had finally woken up along with the rest of the away team. McCoy had long stopped listening in on their conversation, the moment it went into technical terms it went straight over his head.

Engineering had never been one of his interests.

Uhura was holding hands with Spock as they spoke quietly, in a rare display of public affection. McCoy had no doubt they did this all the time, when hidden away from the rest of the crew or in their private quarters. Sulu and Chekov had just left to get some food from the mess hall and the head of security had left after getting details from himself, Jim and Spock.

McCoy turned his gaze back to Jim, who looked up and glared at him. Sighing McCoy turned back to his work. There was something big going on with Jim and he was refusing to talk about. McCoy hadn't forgotten the conversation he, Jim and Spock had in Jim's quarters and he knew Jim could get in a lot of trouble if he spoke about it.

But his best friend's life was in danger, so Starfleet and their rules be damned.

Shutting his eyes his thinks back to the disagreement he and Jim had just had.

_McCoy dragged Jim over to one of the bio beds and forced him to sit down._

"_Bones…" Jim complained._

"_No!" McCoy snapped. "You're not getting out of here until I get some answers, Jim!"_

"_Weren't you listening?!" Jim exclaimed. "I can't tell you! If I tell, I'll get court martialled. I'll lose everything, Bones!"_

"_And being captain of a star ship is more important than your life!"_

_Jim glared at McCoy._

"_God damn it, Jim!" McCoy growled. "Nothing is more important than your life!"_

"Damn it!" McCoy mutters, before turning and walking over to where Jim was sitting.

Scotty who had witnessed there disagreement, nodded and turned to greet Sulu and Chekov, who had just returned from mess, arms full of what McCoy guessed were sandwiches, by the way Scotty's eyes lit up.

"Jim." McCoy greets.

"What do you want Bones?" Jim asks, a slightly hard edge to his voice.

"You're sleeping with me tonight." McCoy answers, his eyes widening as he realised how that sounded.

Jim smirks at him. "At least buy me dinner first, Bones."

McCoy rolls his eyes. "You know what I mean, kid."

Jim glared at him again. "I'm not a kid!"

McCoy forced himself to stop the smile that was threatening to break free. This was something he was familiar with, the 'I'm not a kid argument' they had at least once a month.

"You certainly act like one." McCoy answers.

"Shut up, Bones." Jim answers with a smile.

McCoy smirked. Jim hadn't out right refused McCoy's request, which meant McCoy was forgiven. It wouldn't be the first time they had slept in the same room after all they were roommates for three years.

McCoy knew Jim could return to his quarters and simply have a couple of security officers standing guard outside, but McCoy knew for a fact Jim would hate that. This was one of the few times McCoy was truly gratefully Jim had made him take hand-to-hand combat at the academy.

As long as Jim spent the night with a fellow officer, who knew hand-to-hand, there was no need for guards and McCoy had the feeling, nightmares were going to be the only thing visiting Jim for the next couple of nights.

Whatever Jim refused to talk about and what Starfleet refused to let him talk about, must have been bad.

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**JT didn't so much as flinch when Tom began cleaning the wound on his arm, he just stared into the distance without seeing anything. Tom glanced up at him every couple of minutes, as he treated the wound the best he could, with the small first aid kit he had managed to steal while they were fleeing the colony.**

"**I just killed someone, Tom." JT spoke, his voice hardly more than a whisper. "I just murdered someone."**

**Tom began wrapping a bandage around JT's wound. "You had no choice, JT. If you hadn't killed him, he would have killed us. He would have shot us in the back as we fled… As for Kodos. Well, with him dead, maybe we'll be safe at last."**

**JT shut his eyes, tears rolled down his cheeks. "I can't get his face out of my mind… The look in his eyes as I killed him…"**

**Tom reached up and placed a hand on JT's shoulder. "JT…"**

**JT opened his eyes and looked at Tom. "What have I become, Tom? I've killed people. I'm… I'm a monster!"**

"**JT!" Tom snapped. "We're being hunted like animals! We were never going to make it out of this without being forced to kill or fight or do things we're not proud of. This is a fight for survival. All we can do is hope none of the casualties are on our side."**

**After a moment JT nodded and reached down and picked up the knife he'd killed with. He wiped the blade clean on the ground and studied that blade. It was a hunting knife, one edge was curved, which the other was straight until two thirds up, where in suddenly curved inwards and meet the other side at its tip.**

"**It's one sweet blade." Tom whistled. **

**JT nodded his agreement, but his hands were bringing to shake. **

"**And as sharp as a razor." JT added, shutting his eyes again.**

**Tom rested a hand on JT's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. He couldn't even begin to imagine what JT must be feeling, the first person JT had killed had been completely different to this. **

**This was on a whole different level. **

**Slicing open someone's throat was completely different to shooting someone and not even seeing the damage done.**

**JT was covered in blood.**

**And only some of it was his.**

"**Starfleet will come back," Tom muttered. "All we have to do is survive until they arrive. Then we'll be safe. Kodos is dead. You shot him."**

"**He could have survived, Tom." JT answered.**

"**You've never missed a shoot, JT." Tom replied. "Plus I saw him go down. If he survives that, it'll be a miracle."**

**JT bowed his head took a deep breath. **

"**How are the others?" JT finally asked.**

"**I've been stealing as much as I can, but we wouldn't have lasted much longer if we hadn't gotten you back." Tom sighed. "We can't survive unless both of us are getting supplies, one of us alone can't carry enough."**

**JT nodded. "How about Kev?"**

"**His ankle is getting better, but he still needs helping walking long distances."**

**JT got to his feet. "Let's get out of here."**

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I'll update as soon as I can, until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	22. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter twenty-one:

**JT lay on the floor of the cave, with his back flat against the ground, as much as it made him uncomfortable, laying any other way hurt his arm too much. It was almost pitch black and the night outside of the cave was completely silent. It sent shivers down JT's spine. The fungus really had killed everything, it seemed humans were the only living things left on the planet.**

**Shifting ever so slightly, JT tried not to disturb the others as he tried to find a more comfortable position. Eleanor had all but curled up on his chest and Danny and Connor were resting against his right side, with Connor using his legs as a pillow and Danny hugging his arm. On his left side, Kevin was as close as he could get to JT without causing his arm any discomfort and Melissa was using his stomach as a pillow. Joe was curled up against his sister, with Alice resting beside him, sleeping back-to-back with Tom.**

**The wounds on his back had healed and were little more than angry pale pink lines of new sensitive scar tissue. But the wound on his arm had become infected. JT shivered again, as he remembered Tom using his knife to cut away the infected, discoloured flesh in the hopes that it would get rid of most of the damage and having to clean the puss out of the wound.**

**Tom had almost been shot, stealing antibiotics from the colony. It was worth it though, the infection had cleared up and JT's arm was finally healing. It still caused him pain but not enough to stop him entering the colony for food and supplies. They were all as healthy as they could be, given the situation they were in, but time was slowly running out.**

**Kodos and his men were forcing them to hide deeper and deeper in the mountains, meaning it was taking them longer to get to the colony to get food. JT shook his head and stared up at the ceiling of the cave. Kodos was alive, he had survived being shot. It didn't surprise JT that, his aim hadn't been that good, no matter what Tom said.**

**He had been shot in the arm, there was no way his shot was going to be on target. He had been lucky to hit Kodos at all. But Tom had been adamant that his shot had been near fatal and that the only chance Kodos had of surviving was if a miracle happened.**

**JT shut his eyes and sighed. Either the injuries Tom had seen had looked worse than they were or a miracle had happened, but why would any higher power or twist of fate want to save Kodos? He had slaughtered four thousand people!**

**JT often found himself hoping that the federation still had the death penalty, his crimes were worthy of death. The murderer of four thousand people didn't deserve to live out his life in a prison, no matter how insane he was!**

**JT's eyes snapped open.**

**What if Kodos was caught and his was deemed mentally unstable? He could be cleared of all the things he had done, as acts of insanity and be sent to a rehabilitation centre and free to go about his life as soon as he was deemed sane! A part of JT knew that wasn't true, but the fear played in the back of his mind.**

**What if it did happen?**

**And what would happen to him? He had killed two people. He could be imprisoned for murder while Kodos was free to go. His acts hadn't been acts of insanity, they had been acts of survival. But would a court see it that way? **

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_Whatever Jim refused to talk about and what Starfleet refused to let him talk about, must have been bad._

Kevin looked up from the PADD he was reading as there was a noise outside his private room in medical. For a moment he thought it was Doctor McCoy having a go at the security guards again. They had got in his way an hour earlier and Kevin wouldn't have traded places with them in a million years, no matter how desperate he was to get out of the medical bay.

Jim stood in the doorway to Kevin's private room for a moment. The security on duty had let him pass with only a simple greeting and no questions asked, he was the captain after all and he was the only one Doctor McCoy had cleared to see Kevin outside of duty requirements.

"JT!" Kevin greets cheerfully, a small smile on his face.

"Hey Kev." Jim answers, entering the room.

"You okay?" Kevin asks as Jim sat down on the edge of the bio bed.

"I should be the one asking you that," Jim answers. "I'm fine, Kev."

Kevin suddenly grins mischievously. "So how are you enjoying you own personal guard, now Kodos has made an attempt on your life too?"

Jim rolls his eyes. "Actually I don't have any 'personal guards' as long as I'm with a senior officer, who knows hand-to-hand combat."

"Not fair," Kevin folds his arms across his chest. "Why do I have to put up with them, when you don't? I didn't get the option you have."

Jim laughs at the look on Kevin's face. "Now that's the Kev I remember from Tarsus. And to answer your question, I didn't get an option. Bones pestered Spock until he found a way I could stay with him for the night."

"You're staying with Spock?!"

Jim grins at Kevin. "No, I'm staying with Bones… Anyway staying with Spock isn't that bad."

Kevin shakes his head. "I just wouldn't want to spend the night with the person who nearly strangled me to death on the bridge, if I was in your place."

Jim sighs. "Kevin, that was years ago! He wouldn't try and kill me, plus did you see what he did after I died. We're friends!"

"But he nearly killed you!" Kevin points out.

Jim just shakes his head. He and Tom had this disagreement almost every time they meet up. He hadn't thought Kevin would see it that way to. Kevin didn't appear openly hostile towards Spock like Tom sometimes was, but then Spock was a commanding officer.

"You're as bad as Tom!" Jim exclaims. "Why haven't you mentioned it before? You never shown any dislike towards Spock or anything."

"I don't know," Kevin mutters. "It's just with everything that's happening at the moment… I don't know who's truly a friend or who isn't."

"You mean you think Kodos has a spy aboard?" Jim asks.

Kevin looks up at Jim sharply.

"Don't look so surprised Kev, I'm thinking it to. How else would someone be able to program a replicator to poison you, get hold of Starfleet issue phaser and enter my quarters without setting of multiple alarms? I don't even think there were any intruders, it was simply a decoy, to make everyone look the wrong way."

"But who?" Kevin asks. "How could we even work out who it is?"

"No idea, Kev." Jim answers. "If someone from Tarsus had been sent aboard I would have recognised them, I know all the crew members. Which means Kodos has been recruiting new people since Tarsus."

"We're in deep." Kevin replies.

"You can say that again." Jim sighs. "Of all the things in my past that could have come back to haunt me, I never thought it would be this."

"Hey, Jim." A voice from the door snaps. "Let's go."

Doctor McCoy stood waiting in the door way. Jim grins at him and McCoy scowls in return.

"Don't worry Bones," Jim grins even wider, as he jumps to his feet. "I'm not going to miss our little slumber party. I was just making sure Kev's okay."

McCoy just rolls his eyes and walks away.

"And people say he's bad tempered." Jim grins at Kevin, who laughs.

Jim pauses by the doorway and looks back at Kevin.

"No matter what happens, Kev, I won't let Kodos kill you." Jim mutters. "I may have failed the others, I know I had no way of knowing there were even in danger, but I swear you won't be joining them for a long time, so long as I live."

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"**Explain to me one more time, why we're doing this?" Tom questioned.**

**JT half turned to look at Tom. "The security around the colony's food supplies has been tightened."**

"**I know," Tom muttered. "The last time we tried to steal food, we almost got killed."**

**It seemed Kodos had finally got fed up with them stealing supplies. So all food and other vital supplies had been moved to a keep under the main hall, security around it was tight and anyone who got too close were shot on sight. **

**The colonists had ration books and each morning they went to the town hall to collect their allotted amount. Even if JT was to shot every guard on duty it wouldn't be enough, they'd never get out alive.**

"**Right," JT agreed. "So we're going to my uncles' shop. If I can get my hands on the right equipment, I might be able to build a transmitter. We'll be able to send a distress signal to Starfleet. If we don't do anything, we're going to starve to death Tom."**

"**Can you even build something like that? I mean, don't get me wrong you're a genius and all, but I don't think your uncle could have built something like that."**

"**What else can we do, Tom?" JT answered. "We have to try something."**

**Tom nodded. "I know, but this… I don't think we'll be able to do it. I know next to nothing about engineering and you've never built anything on his scale before from scratch."**

"**If it doesn't work, we'll find another way." JT replied. "We'll think of something else, we'll have to."**

**Reaching the metal ladder that lead up to the manhole cover above them, JT stopped. He turned to Tom who raised his hand in a fist, JT grinned and raised a fist too.**

"**One. Two. Three." JT muttered.**

**As he said three both JT and Tom made their hands form a shape. JT went for rock, while Tom went for scissors.**

"**Damn it." Tom exclaimed.**

"**After you." JT laughed, as he stepped aside to let Tom pass and go up the ladder first.**

**Playing rock, paper, scissors, was how they decided who went first. It saved arguing about who was going to go first, or who was going to stand guard while the other stole supplies, or who was going to take the night watch, or who was going to take fist patrol on days they weren't stealing from the colony.**

**Once Tom had climbed up and given the all clear, JT followed. As he pulled himself clear, Tom pushed the cover back into place. **

**They hadn't been here for a long time. This was the side of the colony which Kodos had wiped out using biochemical weapons, or something similar.**

**JT was simply thankful that all the bodies had been moved since they had last been here. **

**All those who had died were buried in a mass grave somewhere outside colony. JT hadn't come across it yet, so he simply guessed it was on the opposite side of the colony to where they were hiding.**

"**Let's get moving," Tom suddenly spoke. "I don't want to stay here any longer than necessary. This place… It just feels wrong."**

**JT nodded. **

**He knew what Tom meant. **

**The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he shivered even though it wasn't cold. He felt like he was being watched even though this place was deserted. It was a ghost town in every sense of the word. **

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	23. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter twenty-two:

**JT sighed. **

**His uncles work shop hadn't been much help.**

**It seemed after the massacre, Kodos' men had cleared out everything of value. He and Tom had grabbed everything they could, anything that looked like it could be usefully. The best JT had been able to do was program a SOS signal.**

**But it was useless without a transmitter. And the only place one of them could be found was in the old watch tower turned communications tower, behind Kodos' compound. It had been used to keep watch over the fields when the farmers worked. If something went wrong or someone needed help they could signal the tower.**

**It had been built when the colony had first been formed, before communicators had been widely available on the planet, now it simply acted as a communication tower, guiding in shuttles and monitoring frequencies from off planet.**

**Breaking into there was out of the question, it was more heavily guarded than the food supply and Kodos' compound put together. JT sighed again, they were all going to starve to death, if he didn't think of something fast… Kodos' was slowly backing them into a corner and every move they made just seemed to be digging their own graves.**

"**Tom?" JT suddenly questioned as a thought struck him.**

"**Yeah?" Tom answered from where he was on watch.**

"**Did you ever go to Hoshi Sato's house?" JT asked.**

"**Only once," Tom answered. "When she through you that birthday party."**

**JT smiled slightly at the memory. Hoshi Sato had become a member of his family in all but blood. She was like a grandmother. Wise, full of stories and knowledge, a brilliant teacher and caring, loving and also not afraid to call JT out on some of his less than stellar behaviour.**

"**Do you remember any of the stuff she had from her days working in Starfleet?" JT questioned. "I'm sure she showed it to you."**

"**Yeah," Tom replied. "She bought some of it into school for one of the projects Lenore and I were doing. Why'd you ask?"**

"**We could see if any of it is usefully," JT answered. "Maybe there's something we can use to contact Starfleet."**

"**Do you think anything survived the fire?" Tom asked, knowing JT had avoided going near the house ever since he'd been there before the massacre.**

"**I don't know," JT replied. "But it's the only hope we have. All we need is to be able to send this SOS signal, even if it's only once."**

**Tom nodded. "It's worth a shot. It's not like we can do anything else, so what's the harm in trying."**

**JT turned and glanced deeper into the cave, where Kev was playing with the younger children, trying to distract them from their hunger pains.**

"**Kev, how's your ankle?" JT called.**

**Kev glanced up at JT. "It's getting better."**

**JT nodded. "Good. How far can you walk on it?" **

"**Walking is fine, as long as I don't strain it too much. So about five or six miles, maybe."**

"**Perfect," JT answered. "You're coming with me." **

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"_No matter what happens, Kev, I won't let Kodos kill you." Jim mutters. "I may have failed the others, I know I had no way of knowing there were even in danger, but I swear you won't be joining them for a long time, so long as I live."_

Jim followed Bones into his quarters and looked around. This wasn't the first time Jim had been here and it wouldn't be the last, but old habits die hard. As he scanned his surrounding for any hidden dangers, Bones watched.

"I sometimes wonder if I should diagnose you with PPD." Bones mutters.

Jim turned to look at him. "PPD?"

"Paranoid personality disorder." Bones answers.

"Weren't you always going on about that at the academy?" Jim questions. "I'm pretty sure you had me tested. Plus, I'm not paranoid."

"You're in my quarters, where you've been countless times before, yet you still look around like your expect something to jump out and attack you at any moment." Bones rolled his eyes. "And at academy you slept with a knife under your pillow!"

"And the one time I don't check, something will jump out and attack me." Jim answers. "And that knife was for protection."

"Paranoid." Bones states.

"I am not paranoid, Bones!" Jim exclaims. "Just because I check everything I eat and drink for poison, always carry a weapon and always look for traps wherever I go, doesn't make me paranoid! It's a survival tactic."

Bones just shakes his head. "Whatever you say, kid."

"I'm not a kid!" Jim exclaims, a small smile gracing his face.

Bones rolls his eyes. "Could have fooled me. Now get something to eat and go to bed, you haven't eaten or slept since you got back from that planet! Don't make me give you a sedative."

It was Jim's turn to roll his eyes. "You say it like giving me a sedative is a chore, you love giving people hypos!"

Bones glares at Jim. "Remember, no fatty food!"

"Oh, come on," Jim exclaims. "Not the diet again!"

Bones smirks. "Once I'm convinced you capable of eating a balanced diet on your own, I'll let you eat whatever you like."

Jim sighs and walks over to the table. He always ate, high sugar, high protein and fatty foods. It came from times when he hadn't had the choice to eat as much as he would have liked to. High sugar and protein gave him energy and he always found fatty food helped him feel full for longer, it was either eat a healthy diet and feel hungry all the time or eat a less healthy diet and be more comfortable.

"You need to eat and sleep too, Bones." Jim speaks up as he sits down at the table with a bowl of chicken salad. "And don't give me that bull about doctors being able to work long hours with only a few hours' sleep."

Bones glances up at Jim from where his was sitting. "Unlike you Jim, I eat while I'm on shift. And I'll sleep as soon as I've finished these reports… So quit nagging me and I'll be able to get this done quicker!"

Jim grins and went back to eating.

It was fine as far as replicated food went, but nothing would ever beat the real thing. After finishing and clearing away his plate and grabbing some nightclothes, Jim walks into the bathroom, showered and changed for the night.

As dries his hands, he let his head fall forward to rest on the mirror in front of him and shut his eyes. He knew the moment he fell asleep the nightmares would start. Maybe he could ask Bones for hypo. Shaking his head Jim pushed himself back, if he did that Bones would know something was definitely wrong and Jim didn't think they'd be a sedative strong enough to stop these dreams, it would leave him trapped in them and unable to wake up.

Returning to the main room, Jim walks over to the bed and lies down. He glances across at Bones who was still sitting at the table filling in and writing reports.

"Night, Bones."

"Good night, kid."

Jim rolls his eyes, before shutting them and it seemed no sooner had he fallen asleep the bloodied scenes started playing in his head and screams started ringing through his mind.

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**Kev and JT quickly made their way across the desert landscape towards Hoshi Sato's house. This area used to be full of trees and life, but now it looked like something out of the Wild West. As the two of them moved they kept a constant watch on their surroundings. They had to see Kodos' men before they saw them.**

"**Maybe Tom was right." Kev whispered, even though they were alone.**

"**About what?" JT answered in an equally low tone.**

"**Me coming with you." Kev replied. "I shouldn't be here, it should be Tom."**

**JT sighed. "Kev I bought you with me because I need you… Tom sucks at anything engineering. He's a scientist at heart, not an engineer. He came with me to the colony, because you wouldn't have been able to make it, plus he was my look out. I need someone who can help me, you have a knack for engineering."**

"**But what if we don't find anything?" Kev asked.**

"**Then we don't find anything." JT answered. "All we can do if try, Kev. This is far from ideal, but we're running out of time. This is our last hope."**

"**Even if Starfleet get the message, they'll never make it here it time JT!" Kev muttered.**

"**All we can do is hope, Kev."**

"**But this is hopeless!"**

"**Well I for one don't believe in no-win scenarios." JT answered. "We're going to make it off this planet alive. All of us. We have to. Because if we don't, it means Kodos has won."**

**Kev nodded. "So what exactly are we going to be looking for?"**

"**Anything and everything that looks usefully," JT answers. "But above all else we need something to contact Starfleet with or something to send the SOS signal with."**

"**Do you think Starfleet will even believe us?" Kev suddenly asked. "I mean we're just kids, they'll think we're pulling a prank or something."**

**JT paused. He hadn't thought about that. Did people even dare prank call Starfleet? And even if someone did prank call them, it wouldn't be about something so serious, would it? Starfleet would have to believe them, right?**

"**If the worst comes to the worst, I'll tell them my name." JT finally answered. "They wouldn't want the 'Kelvin baby' in any sort of danger, even if it was a prank."**

**Kev almost took a step back at the venom in JT's tone as he spat out the last sentence. He knew how Starfleet reacted to things related to him, JT had explained the lengths they had gone to, to keep his step-fathers trial under wraps and out of the public eye. **

**Starfleet didn't want to admit that the 'Kelvin baby', son of a federation hero, had been neglected and abused right under their noses, while his mother was hardly there for him and on active duty. Would they try and cover this up too?**

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I hope the banter between Jim and Bones wasn't to over the top, if you don't think it sounded like them or there's something I could add, please let me know. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	24. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter twenty-three:

**JT stared at the burnt out shell that used to be Hoshi Sato's house. The fire had destroyed everything, which was probably how Kodos ordered it. He no doubt thought Hoshi would have had the means of contacting Starfleet. Even if she hadn't moved to Tarsus in the few years, Kodos still would have killed her for that reason.**

"**Come on," JT muttered. "Let's see if anything of use survived the fire."**

**Kev nodded, staring at the remains of the house. "She died before the fire, right?"**

"**Yeah," JT answered. "She didn't get burnt alive."**

**JT hadn't really spoken about what happened to Hoshi and Lenore, he'd simply said they had died. Tom knew about it, because of a nightmare he had and JT had told him about. But JT couldn't help but feel bad. **

**Hoshi's death hadn't affected him the same way everyone else's had.**

**Tom had put it down to him not feeling guilty about Hoshi's death. She been dead before he got there, as where Lenore and everyone else had died afterwards and he'd seen most of them die… JT believed he could have prevented it, if he's just been a bit faster. **

**So he felt guilty about everyone else dying, but Hoshi's death wasn't on his conscience. But that didn't mean he wasn't upset. Hoshi had been like family in that final year. And now JT had no family left, well it was possible his brother was still alive somewhere but JT doubted he'd ever see him again. **

**There was Frank to, but Frank had never really been family, plus he was in prison. JT believed nothing good would come of it, if their paths crossed again. Frank no doubt blamed him for getting sent to prison, even though JT had never been there for the trail and Frank had confessed.**

**As the two of them began searching through the wreckage of the house, JT thought back to the scream he had heard when he and Lenore had been cycling to this very place. Only he had heard it. What if it had been Hoshi's scream? No it couldn't have been, they had been too far away.**

**Maybe someone else had been killed and they simply didn't know about. Maybe someone else had found out about the massacre and tried to flee. Shaking his head, JT picked up a fallen piece of debris and turned it over in his hand.**

**It was a half burnt picture frame. **

**JT recognised it, it was the only picture he had ever seen of Hoshi's family. It had been on the wall in her study, right across from the door, so every time someone entered the room they saw it.**

**Letting it fall from his hands, JT shut his eyes. **

**Kodos had destroyed so much. **

**Destroyed so many lives. **

**Destroyed so many things. **

**All the things he had destroyed could never be replaced. **

**People couldn't be bought back from the dead. People had lost their loved ones and that was a pain that would always be there and to make it worse they didn't even know about it yet.**

**They may never know about it, if Kodos managed to cover it up like he planned to. With renewed determination, JT began searching once more. **

**He refused to let Kodos win. **

**He refused to let the truth be buried. **

**There were people off planet who had no idea the ones they loved and cared for had been massacred. It was a terrible truth, but they needed to know.**

**Everyone needed to know.**

**This place was hell. **

**Four thousand were dead, while four thousand lived. **

**JT had never thought about it before, but the ones who lived were suffering more than those who had died. They had lost friends and people they cared about and were being forced to live under the rule of the man who killed them.**

**If they broke the rules, they were killed, their families killed too. Then they had the guilt. Why did they live when they seemed no different to those who had died? Why had they lived while their friends and neighbours were slaughtered?**

**In some ways JT and the other had it better. They had been chosen to die, so they were fighting for survival and they knew they should be dead alongside everyone else, there was no guilt about being superior or more worthy of life. And they were free, they may be being hunted, but they were free or Kodos' rule. **

**For those who didn't die… There was guilt, fear, pain, depression and desperation. Why were they worthy of living? And how long would they live? Kodos could sentence them to death any moment. They had lost so much and had to obey the man who caused it. **

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_Jim rolls his eyes, before shutting them and it seemed no sooner had he fallen asleep the bloodied scenes started playing in his head and screams started ringing through his mind._

McCoy is on his feet in seconds, as Jim starts to twist and whimper in his sleep, his breathing becoming ragged and fast. He had seen Jim have nightmares before, he had been woken by Jim's screams at the academy or his cries for Frank to stop or pleading for his brother not to leave.

But this… McCoy had only ever seen this once or twice before and Jim always refused to speak about it or claimed he couldn't remember. As McCoy approached the bed, he could see that Jim's cheeks were wet with tears.

All of a sudden, Jim sat bolt upright, a shuddering breath escaping his lungs. He suddenly slams his hand over his mouth and jumps from the bed and ran towards the bathroom. McCoy quickly follows him and rubs soothing circles on Jim back as he throws up down the toilet.

Finally Jim sat back, resting against the wall beside the toilet. He shut his eyes as a couple more tears rolled down his cheeks. McCoy quickly fetched a glass of water and forced it into Jim's hands, as he began searching through the medical kit he had returned with too.

Jim washed his mouth out and spat the water down the toilet, before setting down the glass with a shaking hand. McCoy finally finds what he's looking for, a hypo loaded with anti-nausea formula. He injects it into Jim's neck before Jim even sees it coming.

"Bones…" Jim complains, but there's no heart in it.

"Want to talk about it, kid?" McCoy offers, knowing the answer.

Jim shakes his head. "No… Why's there always so much blood?"

McCoy frowns, he knew he wasn't supposed to hear the last part, so he keeps quiet hoping Jim will say more.

Jim sighs. "There's always so much blood. When I dream, I feel like I'm drowning in it. I'm crawling across their bodies and through their blood, but then the puddles of blood begin to get bigger and soon I'm wading through the blood and it's just getting higher and higher.

"The bodies begin to move and it feels like there trying to force me under. All I can hear is the rushing blood around me and their dying screams, which seem to be an endless echo. Then I'm being pulled under and all I can see is red and I can't breathe, I'm drowning in their blood. Then silence.

"Then it starts all over again. I'm standing their surrounding by people, my aunt's comforting her friend from the hospital and my uncle's hugging me. And all I can think about is how we're going to die. The he's there, watching us. I can still remember every word he said like it was yesterday.

"'Good morning citizens. As you all doubt know, the crops have been failing. But fear not I have a solution. A solution that will save those who are worthy of being saved, those worthy of salvation. The revaluation will be successful… The revaluation is successful. But survival depends on drastic measures.

"Your continued existence represents a threat to the well-being of society. Your lives mean slow deaths to the more valued members of the colony. Therefore, I have no alternative but to sentence you to death. Your execution is so ordered, singed Kodos, Governor of Tarsus IV.' Then the shooting starts."

Jim is so lost in his own thoughts, he didn't notice the way McCoy had frozen beside him. After reigning his composure, McCoy reaches forward and places a hand on Jim's shoulder. Subconsciously, Jim leans into the touch, but apart from that he doesn't even seem to notice McCoy's still there.

"All I can hear are the screams. People are falling. People are dying. There's blood everywhere. And suddenly I'm being buried under the bodies and it feels like any second the weight is going to crush me... When I finally manage to claw my way out, I'm crawling over the bodies, through the blood and then the blood starts rising around me.

"It never stops it just keeps replaying and repeating itself over and over again until I wake up. Why is there always so much blood? And why do I always drown in it? It's always the same, I drown every time. I can never change the dream, no matter how hard I try!"

McCoy couldn't hold back any longer, he pulled Jim into a tight embrace.

"Shh, it's okay darlin'." McCoy mutters, as Jim begins to shake. "I've got you."

After a moment, McCoy feels Jim wrap his arms around his waist and McCoy begins running his hand through Jim's hair, trying to calm his friend. All McCoy can think about is how his best friend survived hell and still has the strength to carry on.

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**Kev glanced around. JT had found an entrance to the basement below Hoshi Sato's house, so the two of them had ventured down to see if they could find anything of use. Beams of sunlight shone through the holes in the floor above them, illuminating the dust particles in the air and every now and again creeks would echo through the air as the half burnt floor above them shifted.**

"**I don't like this." Kev muttered, a shiver running down his spine.**

**JT glanced at Kev. "We won't be down here for long, Kev. Plus the floor lasted this long without collapsing, would should be okay for another few minutes."**

"**It's not that," Kev answered. "I feel like someone's watching me, like there's someone standing just behind me and when I look round, there's no one there." **

**JT turned around and looked at Kev. "Has Tom been telling you ghost stories again?"**

**Kev glared at JT. "I'm being serious, JT."**

"**So am I," JT replied. "It's just the two of us, Kev… Just don't worry about it. The first time I went back to the colony after the massacre, I was always looking over my shoulder, jumping at every noise and convinced Kodos was going to find me any moment. It's natural."**

"**Really?" Kev asked.**

"**Yep," JT answered. "Tom was like it too. You'll get used to it and after a time it develops, almost like you have a sixth sense. Me and Tom, we can always tell when we're being watched or when there's someone close by… It's a natural instinct, it's just a little hyperactive at first." **

**Kev nodded and tried to ignore the feeling, if JT wasn't bothered and JT said it was okay and nothing to worry about, then it was okay and there was nothing to worry about. JT had kept them alive this long, he hadn't been wrong about things so far.**

"**Jackpot!" JT suddenly exclaimed from across the basement. "Kev come check this out!"**

**Kev quickly made his way over to where JT was kneeling. "What?"**

"**Secret room." JT explained, nodding towards the wall.**

**Kev stared at the wall for a moment, then his eyes widened as he made out the faint outline of a door.**

"**How do we get in?" Kev questioned, turning to JT.**

**JT smiled. "Pick the lock."**

"**You can do that?" Kev asked.**

"**I know how to do a lot of things that are less than legal," JT replied. "Of course I can."**

"**How do we even know if Hoshi knew about this room? It might have belonged to the person who lived here before her." Kev suddenly asked, remembering a movie he had watched with JT and Tom, where a couple had moved into a house and found a secret room… It hadn't ended well for them!**

"**If me and Tom knew something was up with Kodos, Hoshi must have known too." JT answered. "She was an intelligent women. Even if this has nothing to do with Kodos, Hoshi would have known about it."**

**The lock clicked open and the door swung open. Get to his feet, JT entered the room first, putting away the tools he had used to pick the lock. No sooner had he entered the room, lights switched on automatically, revealing a white walled room.**

**But what was in the middle of the room made JT's heart stop.**

"**Kev!" JT exclaimed. "Don't enter the room!" **

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	25. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter twenty-four:

**His name was Andrew, but his mother had always called him Drew. When Andrew was only a small child, his mother moved to Tarsus IV, it was still a relatively new colony and its technology seemed to be stuck in the twentieth century, but apart from that the place was nice.**

**After his mother had died Andrew joined Tarsus' law enforcement, who worked for the governor. He had been working for two years when Kodos came to power. There was something off about Kodos, but Andrew never questioned it, after all he was his new boss.**

**Years past and Andrew was happy with his job. He had worked his way up through the ranks and was one promotion away from being the head of his unit. Life was good, he had meet a women who had moved to Tarsus and they had got married, they even had a child on the way. **

**Then the orders came.**

**Andrew had never seen the list, but be had been one of the men who had carried out the 'executions' in Kodos' compound. After that, he couldn't sleep at night. He didn't know how many he had killed that day, but it didn't matter. He'd killed innocent people, all because he was following orders.**

**Maybe he could have found a way to live with that in time, but a week later, when they began moving the bodies… He found the body of his wife. His already crumbling world, came crashing down around him. **

**After that there was little to no sleep at night.**

**Every time he shut his eyes all he could see was her face, covered in blood, eyes wide and lifeless and arms holding her pregnant stomach, as if that could have somehow protect her unborn child, with her once beautiful soft hair matted with blood, dirt and grim.**

**When it was found out that nine children had survived, Andrew went out of his way to defend them. For there were a damn sight braver than he could have ever been. Plus they were just kids. Kids who had lived through a massacre. Kids who had lost everything.**

**So when JT was caught, Andrew began thinking of ways he could save the kid. But every time he tried, something held him back or stopped him at the last moment. So on the morning of the execution, he slipped a knife in his belt and made his way to the compound.**

**The knife had been a wedding gift from his wife. Her family had come from a planet which had a long history of hunting, in fact hunting was a rite of passage. The knife was a family heirloom, a symbol to show the lengths they would go to, to provide for their family and keep them safe.**

**He didn't deserve it. He had failed his family. He had failed all the innocent people that lay dead. But this kid, JT, the leader of the survivors, he deserved it. He hadn't given, he kept fighting and he'd do whatever it took to keep those he led alive.**

**Andrew couldn't help but smile, when the news reached him of JT's escape. It was the first time he'd smiled since this all began. He had finally done right by someone, the kid was alive and so long as he and the other, Tom, lived, so would the others.**

**He had finally found some peace amidst the bloodshed and shame. He had finally done some good in a world that had gone to hell. Now all he had to do was make sure the kids survived. That would be his last deed, then he could go in peace and join the ones he had lost.**

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_After a moment, McCoy feels Jim wrap his arms around his waist and McCoy begins running his hand through Jim's hair, trying to calm his friend. All McCoy can think about is how his best friend survived hell and still has the strength to carry on._

Jim wakes with a start, it takes him a moment to work out where he is. He's in Bones' quarters and speaking of Bones, he's asleep on the bed beside him. The events of the night previous suddenly come back to him and Jim sits bolt upright.

He had told Bones about his dream!

So in turn he had told Bones about Tarsus IV!

Jim buries his head in his hands. He was in so much trouble, if the admirals ever found out about this, he'd lose everything. But he'd been so out of it last night, he had just talked and Bones had been there.

He didn't even remember coming back to bed, so he must have fell asleep on Bones in the bathroom. Jim groans, Bones had called him 'darlin'', proving he must have been in one hell of a state. Bones only ever called him 'darlin'' if he was dying or something equally terrible.

Sighing Jim gets up and heads towards the bathroom with a set of clean cloths. Those dreams always left him shaken, he didn't think they'd leave anyone unaffected… It had been a while since he had last had one.

In some ways the dreams were worse than the memories. He'd lived through, but in the dreams he always died… Everyone died. Washing his face, Jim rested his hands on the edge of the sink and looked into the mirror, he looked slightly paler than usual, but apart from that he looked normal.

Leaving the bathroom, Jim noticed Bones was no longer asleep in the bed, but rather sitting at the table with two sets of breakfast. Jim pauses for a moment.

"How long was I in there?" Jim asks.

Bones glances up at Jim. "Half an hour. Now sit down and eat breakfast."

"Yes, sir." Jim mocks, sitting down at the table.

Jim stared at his bowl for a moment, before looking up at Bones, who was watching him closely while he ate.

"Bones…" Jim begins. "About last night…"

Bones raised an eyebrow. "If you even think about saying sorry, I'll bring forward your next physical."

Jim snorts. "No, I just wanted to say… Thanks."

"No problem, kid." Bones answers. "Now eat! I don't want you fainting on the bridge!"

Jim glares at Bones. "I don't faint."

"Oh sorry, I meant pass out in a really masculine way, meaning Spock has to haul your princess arse down to sick bay and I end up having to waste my time looking after you!"

Jim grins. "Have to keep you on your toes, Bones. Plus you'd miss me, if I didn't drop down every so often."

Bones rolls his eyes. "You just live to annoy me don't you?"

"Aww, Bones admit it, you'd miss me if I didn't." Jim grins even wider.

"Wherever you say, kid, whatever you say." Bones answers.

But they both knew it was true. Bones would miss Jim, he was his best friend after all.

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**T'Pol stood on the bridge of the USS ****Constellation,****besides****her****sitting****in****the****chair****was****Captain****Archer****. ****This****was****his****finally****mission****, ****in****less****than****a****year's time****he****be**** an ****admiral****back****on****earth teaching at the academy and inspiring the next generation.**

**T'Pol and archer had served together for a long time, T'Pol had been Archer's first officer for the majority of that time, she had come to respect and care for the captain. He had earn her loyalty and she was glad that he deemed her a friend and confidence, even if his illogical behaviour escaped her most of the time.**

"**The nature of human pranks still escape me after all this time." She spoke. "Where is the logic in tricking people?"**

**Archer glanced at his first officer. "Humans often prank each other for fun, T'Pol. There's nothing logical about it, it's just pure and simple fun."**

**T'Pol inclined her head slightly. "Most illogical."**

"**I'm inclined to agree," Archer replied. "But I am curious, what was the prank?"**

"**I overheard some ensign's talking in the turbo lift on my way to the bridge, captain." T'Pol answered. "Starfleet reserved a call from Tarsus IV, they claimed that a massacre of half the population had taken place and Kodos is currently hunting down nine children who had survived and they were in need of help."**

**Archer almost chocked on nothing when she said that. **

"**How do they know he was joking?" Archer asked, thinking of his friend and old work colleague, Hoshi Sato.**

"**He was deemed mentally stable, when his voice and speech patterns were analysed," T'Pol explained. "It was concluded that he was delusional and mentally unstable. The governor of Tarsus IV was contacted and he backed up that theory by sending of documents conforming the analysts' beliefs."**

"**Hmmm…" Archer hummed. "Make a note of it, commander. We'll check it out when we next drop of supplies to Tarsus IV."**

"**Captain, we are not scheduled to drop supplies to Tarsus IV." T'Pol answered.**

"**No," Archer answered. "We're not. Not yet anyway."**

**T'Pol raised an eyebrow. "You do not believe it was a prank?"**

**Archer shook his head. "No, but I have been unable to contact Sato for the last two and a bit months. I believe something has happened on Tarsus, we just don't know an out it."**

"**So Kodos may have massacred half the colony like the person said?" T'Pol asked, sounding as horrified as a Vulcan could.**

"**I pray not," Archer answered. "But if the fungus has affected the food supply, something could have happened. People do things when they're hungry, that they would never do if they weren't. Yes Tarsus has enough supplies to last until the next drop off, but it only takes the fungus to get into it and they're in serious trouble."**

"**All the governor would have to do is ask Starfleet for aid." T'Pol points out.**

"**Kodos has never struck me as the kind of man to ask for help." Archer replied.**

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	26. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter twenty-five:

**Kev entered the room, JT's warning coming too late. He froze at the sight which greeted him. A man hung from the ceiling, their body slowly rotating back and forth, as if moved by a small breeze.**

**JT reached out and gripped Kev's arm, turning him away from the sight, as it became clear Kev wasn't going to look away. As JT pulled him from the room, Kev glanced over his shoulder at the hanging man.**

"**Kev? Kev, you okay?" JT asked, once they were clear of the room.**

**Kev just looked at JT, before shaking his head. "No."**

**JT sighed. "You shouldn't have seen that… I should have done something… Will you be okay out here while I go back in and check it out? There may be something of use in there."**

**Kev shook his head. "I'll come with you."**

"**Kev…" JT sighed. "Please don't. Nobody our age should have to see that… Nobody in general should have to see death like we have. The massacre was bad enough, you don't need more things to haunt you."**

"**I've already seen him, JT!" Kev answered. "What difference is it going to make?"**

"**You have no idea, Kev." JT answered. "Just stay here. If you hear anyone else other than me, whistle and hide. Someone bound to be looking for him. He's one of Kodos' men, I know that for sure."**

**Kev nodded. "Okay, JT."**

**JT gave Kev's arm a reassuring squeeze. "I won't be long."**

**Kev nodded again and watched as JT vanished back into the hidden room. Turning around him, he slowly began looking around. He and JT had already looked through most of it, but there wasn't much else to do and Kev wanted to take his mind off what he'd just seen.**

**He was thankful JT hadn't let him go back into that room, if he had actually had something in his stomach, he would have thrown up. But he hadn't wanted to appear weak in front of JT… JT had done so much and risked so much, Kev just wanted to help and not feel like a dead weight.**

**He knew JT would never think of him as such. It was just JT had faced death over and over again, he had killed and he still had the strength to carry on and fight, to keep them all alive. He hadn't given up, even now, they wouldn't last two weeks more, yet he still carried on.**

**JT was his hero, his saviour, his friend, his brother. Kev wanted to be as brave as JT was, to always carry on fighting, to never give up, even when the odds looked unbeatable. He'd follow JT to the ends of the universe, all he had to do was ask.**

"**Come on, Kev." JT muttered appearing beside him. "Let's get out of here."**

**Kev noticed a roll of paper in one of JT's hands. "What'd you find?"**

"**Our salvation." JT answered. **

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_But they both knew it was true. Bones would miss Jim, he was his best friend after all._

Jim walked across the medical bay, heading for Kevin's private room. The man from security nodes as he passes, from where he's standing guard at the door. Jim nodes in return as the door to Kevin's room slides open.

He almost backs straight out of the room as he's greeted by the sight of a women holding a loaded hypo to Kevin's neck. She was dressed in a security uniform and Jim recognised her as one of the new officers Cupcake had been training.

The door slides shut behind him, but Jim doesn't move, keeping his gaze firmly fixed on the women holding the hypo to Kevin's neck. She smirked at him and pressed the hypo harder against Kevin's neck.

"Don't even think about moving captain." The women threatens as Jim began to edge towards the intercom near the door behind him. "If you move your friend dies."

"Why are you doing this?" Jim questions.

"Kodos wants you dead," The women sneers. "The revaluation must be successful."

"Then why don't you just kill us here and now?" Jim challenges, slowly moving his hand to the communicator clipped to his belt. "I mean you could kill Kevin right now. I'd sooner go to my fallen friends' side than raise an alarm. You could kill is both here and now!"

Jim pushes one of the buttons on the side of his communicator, not taking his eyes off the women and hoping she doesn't notice what he's doing.

"Hands where I can see them!" The women suddenly snaps.

Jim slowly raises both hands in the air. "You still haven't answered my question, why don't you just kill us now?"

"My orders have changed," The women answers. "Kodos wants to kill you both in person, as it seems I'm not up to the task and you're both still alive!"

"No hard feelings," Jim answers. "But even a baby Denebian slime devil would have more chance of killing us, than you ever did!"

Jim knew for a fact, adult Denebian slime devils were not to be messed with. The things were deadly if you weren't too careful around them, but baby ones not so much. The only came to a centre meter in length, so as long as you weren't smaller than that, you were safe.

The women glares at Jim furious. "Don't get smart with me, Kirk. Or your little friend here won't make it where you're going."

"And where are we going? I mean how are you even going to get us off the ship? It not like you can just walk us down to the shuttle bay and escape!" Jim points out, trying to drag this out as long as possible.

The women pulls something from her pocket and throws it at Jim. "Put it on."

Jim stares at the small gadget it his hands, it was almost like a bracelet, but Jim knew what this was. It was almost like a tracking device, but was able to calculate your weight and mass. They were often used when beaming people from one place to another using one of the old model transporters.

"Put it on!" The women snaps again. "If I have to tell you again your friend dies."

"Your wrong," Jim answers. "Kevin Riley is not my friend. He is my brother."

"Just do it." The women growls.

Slowly Jim clips it around his wrist. It beings to flash red before finally turning green. Suddenly there are shouts from behind him and Jim spins on his heels just in time to see the does to the room slide open. A security team stand there, phaser's at the ready.

He meets Cupcake's gaze, seconds before the light of the transporter beams surround him and he's gone before he can even say a word.

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**JT rolled out the piece of paper, using a handful of small stones to hold down the corners. On the page was the complete blueprints of the ground under the colony. It consisted of every tunnel, every pipe, every ventilation shaft, every electric cable, every basement, and every underground storage room. **

**It had everything on it.**

"**Wow." Tom muttered. "That's impressive."**

"**Why would Ms Sato even have this?" Kev asked, staring at it.**

"**She didn't," JT replied. "The man we saw, he left this."**

"**What man?" Tom questioned.**

"**We found a hidden room under Hoshi's house," JT explained. "A man had hung himself, this was left on floor next to his body, with this note."**

**JT held out a bit of paper, Tom took at quickly read it, whilst Kev moved and read it over his shoulder.**

"**That's… so sad." Tom muttered. "I never really thought about how it affected everyone else still alive. Do you think other people will do what he did?"**

**JT shrugged. "I don't know. But it's possible… I feel guilty enough about surviving the massacre, it would be so much worse if I had been chosen to live, while the rest of my family died."**

**Tom handed the paper back to JT. "I wish I could thank him, he's just saved us all."**

"**What do you mean?" Kev asked. "How has he saved us?"**

**JT pointed to the blueprints. "See this tunnel here, it's connected to the ventilation shaft which keeps the food storage room cool under the town hall. This is our way to steal food, I highly doubt Kodos will have it guarded."**

"**But Kodos must know about it." Kev pointed out.**

"**But he thinks we don't," JT answered. "How could we possibly know about this? The blue prints aren't even missing, this is simply a copy."**

"**But what if he knows about the man who left us this?" Kev answered. "Maybe he tried something else first? Or what if Kodos was suspicious of him?"**

"**We don't have much of a choice, do we?" Tom cut in. "We can either risk it or starve to death."**

**JT nodded in agreement. "I think it's worth it, Kev. Me and Tom have been able to out run Kodos and his men before… Plus if he knew about the tunnels, why hasn't he stopped us before? All the tunnels we've used are marked on this."**

"**So when are you going to go?" Kev asked, as his stomach rumbled.**

"**Tonight." Both JT and Tom answered at the same time. **

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I'll update as soon as I can, until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	27. Chapter 26

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter twenty-six:

**JT and Tom stopped in the middle of the tunnel and looked up at the metal grid above them.**

"**This is it." JT muttered.**

**Tom pulled the rope from where he had it over his shoulder, as JT began searching the walls for a way to get up to the grid.**

"**Are you sure?" Tom asked. "I mean maybe we should have bought the blueprints with us."**

"**Tom," JT replied. "This is it. I promise you, we're in the right place."**

"**I hope you're right." Tom muttered.**

**JT sighed. "It was too much of a risk to bring the blueprints with us. If we dropped them or lost them while fleeing, Kodos would know we've been using the tunnels, then his men would find us for sure!"**

**Tom nodded. "I know, it's just this is our last chance… I don't think I'll have the strength to come back if this doesn't work. I'm just too hungry. Everything aches and I feel like curling up in a corner and never waking up… It must be so much worse for the ones younger than us."**

**JT looked down at the ground for a second. "We only have to last two more months, maybe even less than that until Starfleet drops off the next lot of supplies… All we have to do is survive until then."**

**Tom shook his head. "It sounds so easy. Just survive."**

**JT snorted looking up at the metal grid. "It's been hard so far, but it's only going get harder. The more desperate Kodos gets, the more lengths he's going to go to."**

**Tom nodded. "The closer Starfleet get, the more he's going to want us dead."**

"**Yeah," JT replied. "He has it all the planned out. It's almost believable."**

"**We're the only ones who can tell Starfleet what really happened," Tom agreed. "Everyone else is too scared, I would be too, if he threatened to kill my family… But what does it matter now, there already dead!"**

"**Yep," JT answered sadly. "He told me all about it, whilst I was at the compound right before I was going to be killed. He wanted me to know how much I had failed."**

"**He's mad, completely insane!" Tom muttered.**

"**I thought you already knew that," JT replied. "After all he did all this for his dead wife! There has to be a screw loose somewhere!"**

**Tom just shook his head. "It should almost dark now, let's get on with this."**

**JT nodded. "Give me a boost."**

**Tom quickly linked his hands together, forming a foot hold JT could use. JT grinned and placed a foot in Tom's hands and picked up the rope.**

"**Don't drop me." JT warned.**

**Tom grinned. "I'll try."**

**JT rolled his eyes and Tom gave him a boost up. It only took JT a couple of seconds to push the metal grid out the way and he pulled himself into the ventilation shaft. It was wide enough for an adult to crawl through, so it gave JT enough room to move comfortably.**

**Turning, he looked back down at Tom, he was looking up at him.**

"**You coming up?" JT asked.**

**Tom shook his head. "No, I'll stay here… I don't think I have the strength, not after giving you a boost up."**

**JT nodded. "Be ready for when I get back." **

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Uhura raises her hand to her ear piece, as a burst of static sounds, almost making her wince. She had been cleared for light duty, with orders to report back to medical if she started to feel unwell, or if she noticed anything that wasn't normal.

"_You still haven't answered my question, why don't you just kill us now?"_ Jim's voice suddenly sounds through the static.

"_My orders… Changed,"_ A women's voice answers. _"… Wants to kill you… Person… Seems I'm… The task… Both still alive!"_

"Commander," Uhura calls across to Spock, who was sitting in the captain's chair. "I'm receiving a transmission from the captain's communicator."

Spock quickly got up from the captain's chair and walked over to Uhura's station, as she pushed a series of buttons and the transmission began to play out loud.

"_No hard feelings,"_ Jim's voice was slightly distorted, but it was still clear. _"But even a baby __Denebian slime __devil__would__have__more__chance__of__killing__us__, __than__you__ever__did__!"_

"_Don't__… __smart__with__… __Kirk__."_ The women's voice answers again, a furious edge to her voice clear even through the static. _"__Or__… __friend__… __won't__make__it__… __you're__going__."_

"Lieutenant Sulu," Spock spoke up, turning to the helmsman. "Alert security that the intruder is currently holding the captain and lieutenant Riley in medical. The lieutenant's life has been threatened."

"Aye, sir." Sulu answers.

"_And__where__ are __we__going__? __I mean__how__are__ you __even__going__ to get __us__off__the__ship__?"_ Jim's voice sounds again. It suddenly became clear to Uhura, Jim was trying to buy himself and Riley more time. _"__It__not__like__ you can __just__walk__us__down__to__the__shuttle__bay and escape!__"_

The sound of movement could be made out through the static followed by the women's voice.

"… _On."_ Was the only word that could be made out.

There was a sudden silence and Uhura could feel Spock tense behind her. She herself was gripping the edge of her desk so tight, it would have bucked under the pressure, if she had been anything stronger than human.

"_Put... on!"_ The women's voice snaps. _"If I… tell you… friend dies."_

"_Your wrong,"_ Jim answers. _"Kevin Riley is not my friend. He is my brother."_

Uhura stares at her station in shook. She knew Kevin and Jim were friends, but she had never known that Jim had considered Kevin family.

"… _It."_ The women growls.

The sound of something clicking seems to echo through the static, followed by a pause and then muffled shouts, followed by the sound of someone moving. The sound of a door sliding open reaches them, but only a couple of seconds later the transmission cuts out, as the connection is lost.

"_Lieutenant Hendorff to the bridge." _A voice sounds through the intercom.

"Commander Spock here, Lieutenant." Spock answers.

_"Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Riley have been taken, sir."_ Hendorff replies. _"They were beamed out and we were unable to intercept them."_

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**JT crawled through the ventilation shaft, he moved as fast are he dared to, keeping himself almost flat to the metal, as he pulled himself along in an army crawl style. He couldn't risk making even the slightest of noises, for fear that Kodos' men would hear him.**

**As he kept moving, he prayed that this would work. Tom had been too weak and tied from the hunger to come with him after using up most of his energy giving JT a boost up. Tom was right, it must have been so much worse for the younger ones.**

**He on the other hand, was used to the hunger. When he and his brother had been with Frank, they had been forced to steal food as means of surviving. But they hadn't been able to steal all the time, so they had gone hungry… It had been uncomfortable, but JT had got used to it.**

**Ignoring the pain had become a part of daily life, school meals could only get you so far, when he had been able to go to school. Water from the hose in the garden helped, but only for a short while.**

**At last JT came to a second metal grid. Looking through the gaps JT could see into the store room below. Food lined the many shelves and boxes and crates stood holding more food than JT had ever seen before. **

**There was so much here.**

**Slowly he pulled away the metal grid and slipped the coiled rope from around his shoulders. Tying one end of the rope around the pipe which run along the top of the shaft, JT made sure it was secure before dropping the other end down into the room below.**

**Taking care, he climbed down the rope and into the storage room. He quickly moved to the closest shelve and began packing food into the bag he had bought with him. He and Tom could always come back for more in the following days, all he had to do was get enough for now.**

**Once his bag was full, JT rushed back over to the rope and began to pull himself up. He could feel his arms burning, as he muscle strained. Lactic acid making his arms feel like they were on fire. Again it was a feeling JT was used to, so he pushed aside the pain and carried on climbing.**

**He was just out of arms reach, when he almost lost his grip on the rope in shock. There around the gap he was about to climb through, was the fungus. It almost look like moss you'd find growing on trees, but its colour was slightly off.**

**JT stared at it in horror. **

**The fungus was about to affect the remaining food and there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't try to warn Kodos and his men this time, he'd be killed! **

**Life was about to get so much harder for everyone on the planet. **

**It'd take the fungus a couple of weeks at the most to spread from where it currently was. That'd give him and Tom enough time to steal as much as they could before everything became infected.**

**JT reached up and pulled himself back into the ventilation shaft. What would Kodos do to the remaining colonists when he realised that the remaining food was about to become inedible? **

**He had killed four thousand with the excuse it was to save the people who remained, so what would he do when it became real?**

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I'm going on holiday this Wednesday, so I won't be able to update for a week and a half, maybe a bit less. I'm going to try and get another chapter up before I leave, but I can't promise anything. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	28. Chapter 27

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter twenty-seven:

"**Don't eat so quickly," JT warned. "It'll make you sick."**

"**But I'm hungry." Connor and Melissa both whined, as the others nodded their agreement. **

"**I know," JT answered. "But we've gone a long time without food, if you eat too much too fast, your body will reject it."**

**The others nodded and began to eat their food slower. He and Tom had only just made it back half an hour before. They had already made plans to go and get more food, this time both of them would be entering the store room.**

**And they wouldn't be going alone. Kev would be to, if he had the strength. They needed to get as much food as possible. Once Kodos realised that the food was in danger or it became infected, they'd have nothing apart from what they could find while scavenging deeper in the mountains.**

**After making sure all the others had eaten, JT began eating his own food, taking slow and small bites. He watched the others as he ate. Everyone seemed much happier, the youngest began playing a game on the floor with a piece of chalk JT and Tom had stolen a month back.**

**JT smiled slightly. **

**It was worth it. **

**All the things he had done. **

**All the things he had risked. **

**All the things he had suffered through. **

**It was worth it for this. **

**And he'd do it all again in a heartbeat. He may have killed people, but he hadn't had much of a choice and in the end, it was worth it and it always would be.**

"**How much will we need to get?" Kev suddenly asked, sitting down beside JT.**

"**How much food?" JT replied.**

"**Yeah." Kev answered.**

**JT sighed. "As much as we can get. But we can't just steal anything and everything. We need to think about it. What's easy to carry? What's going to last the longest? What can we hide here that's not going to go off before we can eat it? There's so many things we need to think about."**

"**I think dried food would be the best," Tom spoke up. "It'll keep the longest. Tinned food as well, but that's quite heavy to carry."**

"**What about drinks?" Kev asked.**

"**The water from the river and streams is safe to drink up here, Kev." Tom pointed out.**

"**That's not what I meant," Kev replied. "What about protein shakes and stuff like that."**

**JT grinned. "That's a good idea. There are these dissolvable tablets you can put in water which are filled with vitamins and minerals, there often given to people who have deficiencies. My aunt was often prescribing them to people who had been bought in." **

"**Protein bars and shakes will be good, too." Tom nodded towards Kev, who smiled in return.**

**JT glanced at Tom and Kev. "So what we need is dried food, tinned food, vitamins and minerals tablets, protein bars and shakes."**

"**Now we just have to work out how much we're going to need," Tom muttered. "And how much we can carry back from each trip to the colony."**

**JT sat thinking for a moment. "We do three runs, over three nights. If we each take two bags, that'll be eighteen in total. If we ration what we eat, it could last us a month, maybe a month and a half… As for the tablets, we can get them later. I know where they're stored at the hospital and the room is airtight, so the fungus wouldn't be able to get in."**

"**Don't people use the hospital?" Kev asked.**

**Tom shook his head. "It's on the side of the colony that was wiped out. Everyone else now uses the smaller hospital near the town hall, or the pharmacy."**

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"_Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Riley have been taken, sir." Hendorff replies. "They were beamed out and we were unable to intercept them."_

Jim groans as he regains consciousness. He was lying on his back on a hard cold floor, he couldn't feel any restraints and he could hear someone breathing shallow breathes nearby. Jim could tell without looking that it was Kevin.

"Why does this keep happening to me?" He mutters, before rolling onto his side and opening his eyes.

For a moment Jim just stares at the sight which greets him, he's staring right into a pale lifeless face, which seems to stare back at him. Half the persons face is covered in pale pink scaring, which seems to stand out even more against their deathly pale skin and one of their eyes was a cloudy white colour, whilst the other is brown and lifeless. Both eyes were half closed.

Then Jim's mind seems to catch up him. He's on his feet in seconds and stumbling back. He backs into something lying on the ground and falls backwards. He hears rather than feels his wrist snap, as he lands awkwardly, with his right arm trapped beneath him.

Kevin bolts upright and looks around in alarm, having been woken by Jim tripping over him.

"What?" Kevin asks. "Where are we? What's happening?"

"No idea, Kev." Jim answers, with a pained moan, as examines his wrist, which was already beginning to swell. "Yep, definitely broken… Bones is going to kill me!"

Kevin glances round and his gaze settles on the body, which had Jim backing up moments before.

"Is that...?" Kevin asks, turning to look at Jim, eyes wide.

"Yeah," Jim answers. "He's been dead for a couple of days at least."

Kevin nodes, tears glistening in his eyes. "How… How'd he… How'd he die?"

Jim glances over at the body, before looking away. "Blunt force trauma to the slide of the head. The wound didn't kill him, it was most likely the concussion… It's possible he has other injuries which I can't see, but that was the most likely cause of death."

Kevin nodes, before moving and sitting beside Jim, who had moved back and was sitting with his back to a wall.

"He's really is dead." Kevin mutters.

Jim put his good arm around Kevin's shoulders and pulled him closer. Kevin rests his head on Jim's shoulder, as his body shakes with supressed sobs. Jim could cry until he had no tears left later after they had got out of this, when he could drink until he couldn't see straight, but right now Kevin needed him to be strong.

Jim looked around the room they were in. It was little more than a small cell. The far side of the room was home to six skeletons, varying in size. How Kodos had gotten hold of them, Jim didn't know, nor did he want to find out.

The walls were completely smooth and a small window, too small to climb through but large enough to let in just enough light to see, was close to the ceiling. There was a metal door on the opposite side of the room to the widow and just like the walls it was completely smooth, with no door handle or lock. It didn't even have any visible hinges, they were well and truly trapped in the room.

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"**How can you even see where you're going?" Kev asked, as he stumbled yet again.**

**Tom grinned and glanced back at Kev. "You get used to it."**

"**But it's almost pitch black!" Kev answered, keeping one hand on the tunnel wall.**

**JT who was at the head of the group rolled his eyes. "Keep it down, Kev, these tunnels really echo. The last thing we need is for someone to hear us."**

"**Why don't we use the torches?" Kev asked. "No one's going to see the light down here!"**

"**Because it's a waste of battery power," Tom answered. "It's light enough to see, your eyes just aren't used to this low level of light."**

"**What light?!" Kev hissed, as he stabbed his toe on an unseen rise in the tunnel floor. "I can only just see your outline."**

"**Which is light enough," JT answered. "Now keep it down!"**

"**What's up with you anyway, Kev?" Tom asked. "You're never usually this moody!"**

**Kev mumbled something, but it was too low for Tom or JT to hear.**

"**What was that?" Tom asked.**

"**I said, I don't like tunnels." Kev replied.**

"**You hear that, JT," Kev called forward. "He doesn't like tunnels."**

**JT stopped walking and turned around, Tom stopped, but Kev didn't notice and walked straight into the back of him. Once Tom and Kev had both regained their balance JT spoke.**

"**Why'd you come, if you don't like it?" JT asked.**

"**Because you needed help," Kev answered. "It's not like I scared of them or anything. I just always feel uneasy, it puts me on edge."**

**JT nodded. "From now on you walk in the middle. If you're still having trouble seeing, put a hand on my shoulder and follow my lead."**

"**Okay." Kev replied, as he stepped around Tom.**

"**Now, both of you keep quiet." JT ordered. "And be careful. None of us can afford to get injured, not here."**

**Both Tom and Kev acknowledge JT with a node and they continued walking through the tunnels. After a couple of steps, Kev placed a hand on one of JT's shoulders, who tensed slightly before relaxing.**

"**Are we there yet?" Tom called from the back, his voice little more than a whisper.**

**Kev laughed slightly, covering his mouth with his other hand to stop the noise. It wasn't that funny, but in times like these, even the smallest things became funny and highly amusing. It seemed so normal, as Tom had always been impatient.**

**JT grinned. "Shut up, Tom."**

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Thank you catbob1, I shall. And thank you everyone else who has reviewed, I'm glad you like the story. Until a week and a bits time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	29. Chapter 28

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter twenty-eight:

**Kev and JT walked side by side, as Tom scouted ahead of them. Kodos didn't have his men patrolling here as much as he used to, it was only the odd random patrol, but it was better to be safe than sorry. **

**They were only a block away from the hospital. They had stolen quite a lot of food over the three nights they had planned, it would hopefully last them until Starfleet arrived, if Kodos didn't find them first.**

**As they approached the hospital, Tom suddenly stopped. He glanced round, before signalling for JT and Kev to join him.**

"**What is it?" JT asked.**

**Tom pointed upwards towards one of the hospital windows. "That."**

**JT looked up and Kev glanced up too.**

"**I don't see anything." Kev muttered, looking at Tom.**

**JT frowned. "You're talking about the second floor from the top, three windows in?"**

"**Yeah." Tom answered.**

"**What is that?!" Kev exclaimed, finally see what JT and Tom had both seen.**

"**Dead body." JT and Tom answer at the same time.**

**Kev went pale. "I though you said Kodos moved all the bodies."**

"**I thought he had." JT answered.**

"**Why'd you think he left the hospital?" Tom asked. "I mean everywhere else was cleared out."**

"**What if the hospital was the first place to be effected?" JT replied. "What if one of the patients suddenly went insane and started killing someone? Or a whole ward? The hospital would be locked down… With all the staff dead, who would be able to open it?"**

"**Couldn't they just force it open?" Kev asked.**

**Tom through his head back and laughed. JT grinned and shook his head slightly.**

"**What's so funny?" Kev asked, both confused and annoyed.**

"**You really think you can just break in?" Tom laughed. "Did they teach you nothing in school?!"**

**JT rolled his eyes and spoke up before Kev could answer. "The security system which locks the hospital down is like the security you have in prisons, Kev. You physically cannot break in and you can't break out until the lock down has been lifted."**

"**So how are we going to get in?" Kev asked.**

"**Could you hack the system, JT?" Tom questioned, turning to JT.**

"**I don't know," JT answered. "I've never tried hacking something with such high security before."**

"**Won't trying to hack it set off an alarm?" Kev asked.**

"**Possibly." JT replied. "If it does we'll just have to run. If it doesn't we'll have to be quick, in case it's some sort of silent alarm and Kodos has been alerted."**

"**Let's just hope this is worth the risk, huh?" Tom muttered.**

"**It will be." JT answered. "This could be the difference between life and death when it comes to the crunch."**

"**Comes to the crunch?" Kev asked, frowning.**

"**Old earth saying, Kev." Tom answered. "It's still quite popular on earth, but not so much here."**

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_The walls were completely smooth and a small window, too small to climb through but large enough to let in just enough light to see, was close to the ceiling. There was a metal door on the opposite side of the room to the widow and just like the walls it was completely smooth, with no door handle or lock. It didn't even have any visible hinges, they were well and truly trapped in the room._

McCoy, Spock, Sulu, Chekov, Uhura and Scotty were all seated at the table in the middle of the captain's ready room. They always used it for meetings and sometimes even for debriefings and the like. It was more secure than the ordinary meeting rooms, but that may have had something to do with Kirk altering the security on the room.

They were currently waiting for Lieutenant Hendorff or 'Cupcake' as their captain always called him and Lieutenant Commander Giotto, the chief security officer. Lieutenant Hendorff was Giotto's second in command and the meeting couldn't start until both were present.

Finally the door to the captain's ready room slides open and Hendorff and Giotto enter, both node a greeting to Spock, who is now acting captain in the light of Kirk's disappearance. Spock inclined his head ever so slightly, his body tense.

Ever since the whole fiasco with Khan, the friendship between Kirk and Spock had become much stronger. Spock had finally found a true friend, someone who didn't judge on his heritage as a Vulcan or mixed parentage. Their friendship wasn't as strong as the friendship McCoy and Kirk shared, but it was close.

Giotto cleared his throat. "The women who is responsible for taking the captain and lieutenant Riley, is Ensign Tina Brown. There is nothing we can find in her past history that has even the slightest indication to why she would have done this. Her history in the 'Fleet is spotless, no history of misconduct or violence. When ever questioned, she seemed to hold the captain in high regard."

Uhura frowns. "Could she have had a history with Kirk?"

McCoy glared at Uhura knowing what she was implying.

Truth be told, Kirk's reputation wasn't all what it was cracked up to be. Sure Kirk did sleep around, but only with those who were looking to do the same as him, no strings attached sex or one night stands. He hadn't slept with half the people he was rumoured to have, but people used it as excuse to bitch about him.

Hendorff shakes his head, his voice taking a defensive edge. "She doesn't. The two had never meet before she joined the Enterprise and the captain would never break a regulation and sleep with her, getting caught would cost him too much."

Uhura nodes, she had meant no disrespect but it had to be taken into consideration. "I was simply bringing it up as a possibility… The captain does have a reputation."

"One should not be judged on rumours, solely facts." Spock answers, a hint of disapproval in his voice. "Lieutenant Hendorff is correct, the captain has had no relations of that nature with any crew whist serving aboard the ship. That also wouldn't explain why she took the Lieutenant."

"What about Riley?" Sulu asks. "Could she have had history with him?"

Giotto shakes his head. "She has no prior relationship with either of them. It's possible she's never even meet Riley outside of working as a security officer."

"Sae why'd th' lassie dae it?" Scotty asks.

"That, Engineer Scott, is a question I would very much like the answer to." Spock answers.

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**The moment the three of them stepped into the main entrance hallway of the hospital, JT wished he hadn't been able to hack in and override the lock down.**

"**I'm never going to be able to see a hospital the same way, ever again." Tom muttered, trying incredibly hard not to get reacquainted with his last meal.**

**Kev nodded mutely in agreement a hand firmly clamped over his mouth and nose. JT glanced at the two of them before looking back down the hallway. Dried blood covered the floor and walls, rotten human flesh was scattered around the floors and on top stationary objects, bone fragments and whole bones alike littered the floor.**

**The smell was so strong, it almost knocked you off your feet. But that was to be expected, the building had been completely isolated since the beginning, no fresh air had entered the building and the air conditioning could only do so much. The odd light flickered every now and again, as the hospital's generators finally seemed to be giving out. **

**All in all, it looked like a scene from a horror movie.**

**JT was simply glad they hadn't come across any bodies yet. That was something he didn't know how Kev would react to. Tom he knew could cope, he'd seen the damage done on this side of the colony days after it had happened, just like JT had.**

"**You can leave if you want to," JT spoke. "I know where it is, I can get it on my own."**

**Kev shook his head stubbornly. "No, we stay together. We're a team, I'm not leaving you here to do it alone."**

**JT smiled slightly at Kev's show of loyalty. "Fine, but if it gets any worse than this, you have to leave, Kev."**

"**Worse than this?" Tom snorted. "How could it get worse than this?!"**

**JT was about to answer when a crash sounded through the hallways, echoing and bouncing off the walls.**

"**What was that?" Kev whispered, fear seeping into his tone.**

"**It was probably just the wind." JT answered.**

"**What wind?" Tom demanded. "This place has been sealed shut since this whole ordeal began!"**

"**Well the wind is a far better option than the alternative." JT replied.**

"**You mean Kodos' men are in here?" Kev questioned.**

**JT shook his head. "No, worse."**

"**That isn't possible," Tom spoke up. "It's been two and bit months. Nobody could live that long without food! Kev's right, it's just Kodos' men."**

"**And how could it be them?" JT asked. "We've been in here for less than a minute, I've only just hacked the lock down! How could they have got past us and deeper into the hospital without us noticing?"**

"**They used another entrance?" Kev guessed.**

**JT shook his head. "What would Kodos' men even be doing here? They haven't patrolled this side of the colony for a long time. So what's the chance of this being a random patrol? And what are the chances of that radon patrol noticing the hospital is no longer in lock down?"**

"**Compared to the chances that someone has survived in here since the massacre, I'd say the chances of that being random patrol are higher." Tom answered.**

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I hope I didn't get Scotty's accent too wrong and I hope it's understandable, if it's not let me know. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	30. Chapter 29

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter twenty-nine:

**Just as JT had said, the store room had been sealed and the fungus had been unable to get in and infect the supplies within, even though the fungus covered most of the hospital's walls. It hadn't taken much effort to get into the store room as JT knew the code from his time working there with his aunt. Once they were in, they had gathered as much as they could carry and JT hoped it was enough, as he really didn't want to come back here.**

**As they walked back along the corridors and hallways towards the exit, JT couldn't shake his feeling of unease. They still hadn't come across any whole dead bodies, only bits and pieces. It seemed odd to JT and didn't make sense. He didn't even want to think about what it could mean, Tom had been right, there was no food in here, unless that's what happened to the bodies…**

**JT shook his head, in an attempt to remove that chain of thought. He tensed suddenly, as his body became alert and tense, his heart began racing and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He glances round and tried to keep his movements as normal as possible. **

**They were being watched.**

**And possibly being followed too.**

"**I don't like this." Kev muttered, glancing round as a shiver ran down his spine.**

"**Neither do I," JT answered. "But we just have to keep calm, we're nearly out of here."**

"**We're being followed, I'm sure of it." Tom adds. "I'm not sure by what or who, but don't make any sudden movements or run. Just keep calm like JT said."**

"**What do you mean by what?" Kev asked, alarm in his voice.**

"**It could be a hungry animal or something that somehow found a way in here." Tom answered. "It's explain why there are no bodies around, a staving animal would more than happily eat them."**

**The little colour Kev had in his cheeks fades, as his face pales and for a moment JT was sure he was going to pass out or be sick.**

"**I wish I'd never asked." Kev finally muttered, trying not to gag.**

**JT's stomach was also turning at the thought, but for a different reason. What if it wasn't an animal, but a human? Humans had been known to do it in the past… Again JT shook his head. This was nightmare enough, he didn't need to add more horrors to the list.**

**Kev suddenly grabbed hold of JT's shoulder, his face a picture of horror. **

"**JT," He whispered, his voice full of pure terror. "Something's holding my ankle."**

**JT froze. "Just stay calm, Kev."**

**Slowly JT turned around and looked down, beside him Tom did the same. A hand was wrapped around Kev's ankle. The arm which the hand belonged to vanished into the shadows, under a medical bed which was pressed up against the hallway wall.**

"**What the f-"**

"**Tom!" JT hissed.**

**Tom glanced at JT, before nodding and pulling his gun from where it was hidden. He pointed the weapons at the shadows below the bed, while JT drew his knife. Slowly he knelt beside Kev and reached towards the hand.**

**All of the sudden, the hand moved, grabbing JT by the wrist and pulling him forward. JT found himself face to face with a man, who was pale and whose face looked hollow. JT eyes widened as he recognised the man.**

"**Tom, don't shoot!" JT exclaimed. "It's Nurse Brown! One of my aunts' colleagues!" **

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"_That, Engineer Scott, is a question I would very much like the answer to." Spock answers._

It had been their last resort contacting Ambassador Spock. It was common knowledge that Kirk often spoke to him off duty and it was never related to their mission or the past, well their future. It was a different timeline after all. Kirk had simply stated that the ambassador simply needed a friend and he was more than happy to be that friend.

Of course they had asked for help once or twice before. The whole thing that went down with Khan had needed the ambassador's advice. That again had proved how different their timelines were. Spock had died not Kirk and it happened much later in time than it had in this timeline. This was an alternate universe, it was bound to be different.

Finally the screen flickers to life and the face of Ambassador Spock appears. He studies the crew before him, raising an eyebrow slightly as he notices the captain isn't among them. At last his gaze settles on Spock.

"Mr Spock." Ambassador Spock greets.

"Mr Spock." Spock answers. "In your time aboard the Enterprise, did you ever encounter a man named Thomas Leighton?"

The only reason Spock asked was because Kirk had mentioned his name and it was the only possible lead they had. Thomas also had the same seal on his files as the captain and the lieutenant Riley had. Anything Ambassador Spock could tell them, would hopefully help them.

On the scene Ambassador Spock freezes, his face holding as much horror as was possible for a Vulcan. There was only ever one time when he had encountered Thomas Leighton on his time aboard the Enterprise and that was when he found out about his captain being on Tarsus IV.

"Dr Thomas Leighton?" Ambassador Spock questions, regaining his composure.

"Affirmative." Spock answers.

"I trust this concerns the captain and Lieutenant Riley?" Ambassador Spock asks, hoping the logical conclusion he had come to was wrong.

Spock's eyebrows draw together slightly, while the rest of the crew have varying degrees of surprise on their faces.

"Affirmative." Spock repeats.

"Of all the horrors that my Jim lived through, this was one I hoped this universe had spared yours." Ambassador Spock answers after a moment. "I see that I was mistaken."

Ambassador Spock had often found himself conflicted on whether to tell Kirk that in his universe Kodos had still been alive and that his daughter had been going around killing each of the Tarsus nine and she nearly took both his and Kevin's life.

But when the ambassador had researched Tarsus, he had been unable to find anything even hinting that Kirk had been on Tarsus IV, it seemed that Starfleet kept the minor details of the events well hidden from everyone not in Starfleet. Nor could he find any reference to the performing drama company, _the Karidian Company of players_, Kodos had been a part of.

"Whit dae ye mean?" Scotty asks, as Spock shows no sign of asking.

McCoy stares at the ambassador on the screen hoping that he isn't about to say what he thinks he is.

"Jim Kirk was on Tarsus IV at the time of the massacre," Ambassador Spock answers, his voice slightly strained. "He, Kevin Riley and Thomas Leighton were all three of the Tarsus nine… The only survives who saw Kodos the executioner face to face."

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**Nurse Brown led JT, Kev and Tom to the office that had once belonged to JT's aunt. He pulled a key from his belt and unlocked the door, letting them into the office. Nurse Brown took a seat while JT, Kev and Tom chose to stay standing.**

"**How are you still alive?" JT asked.**

**Nurse Brown sighed. "I lived on the same side of the colony as you… Those we lived on that side weren't affected."**

**Before JT had a chance to tell Nurse Brown that wasn't what he meant Tom cut in asking a question of his own.**

"**Why were you on this side?" Tom asked. "I mean JT's aunt wasn't and she worked here."**

"**I was working the night shift," Nurse Brown answered. "And the morning shift. A patient was bought in, the first I think to be affected by whatever turned everyone crazy. As a result I stayed late, I should have left. After that it was a matter of time before it seemed to be effecting everyone."**

"**What did you do?" Kev asked.**

"**I hid." Nurse Brown answered simply. "I locked myself in this office, hid under the table, covered my ears, shut my eyes and waited until it was over."**

**Tom looked away and Kev bowed his head, looking off to the side, whilst JT simply meet Nurse Browns' gaze. It said a lot about what happened here when it reduced an A&amp;E nurse to hiding under a table. Nurse Brown had worked in A&amp;E all his life, he seen things JT hoped he'd never see, he'd treated problems that would have most adults with their heads over a toilet.**

"**Why didn't you get out of here?" JT asked. "I had to hack in."**

"**I don't know," Nurse Brown muttered. "I guess it was safe in here… Everyone is dead. But out there, Kodos has men patrolling and armed guards surrounding the colony. In here I don't have to worry about that, they can't get in and I'm safe."**

"**What about food?" Kev suddenly asked.**

"**What about food?" Nurse Brown asks, slightly confused.**

"**What have you been eating?" Tom asked. "We've been stealing food from the other side of the colony, everything else is dead."**

"**I don't understand what you mean?" Nurse Brown frowned. **

"**What's there to understand?" JT snapped, suddenly. "Everything on this planet is dead. The trees the animals, the plants, the crops! Even the food supply had been infected! So where have you been getting food from if you haven't left this building? I mean sure, food from the canteen would last you a while, but not this long!"**

"**Why would I need to get food from out there?" Nurse Brown asked, laughing maniacally. "There's all the food I'd ever need in here!"**

**Three pairs of eyes snap towards him in shock and horror, as they all came to the same sickening conclusion. But what could you expect? He'd been alone with the dead for two and a bit months, madness was inevitable. **

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Hey, I hope you liked that chapter and this is my tribute to the late Leonard Nimoy, may he rest in peace. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	31. Chapter 30

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter thirty:

**JT cleared his throat nervously. "So… Umm, where do you get food from?"**

**Nurse Brown stared at JT for a moment, before he realised what JT was implying. "Nothing like that… I would sooner starve to death than do such a thing! No, I'm talking about the replicators. There were in the process of being installed when all this started… I took be about a week, but I managed to get them working… Between them I have enough food to last be a year at least. Starfleet will be here by then for sure."**

"**My aunt never mentioned anything about replicators being installed." JT muttered, as relief washed through him.**

"**She wouldn't have," Nurse Brown answers. "It was being kept under wraps and it was to be unveiled at the hospital's open day and fund raising event."**

"**So these replicators," Tom muttered. "You've survived this entire time, simply living on the food they've created?"**

"**Yes," Nurse Brown answered. "I'll admit replicated food doesn't taste as nice as the real thing, but it perfectly healthy and there's no harm in it."**

**JT nodded his agreement. "It what all the star ships use Tom. They don't have enough storage space for real food and nor would the food keep for the entire time there on their mission… Nurse Brown is right, it doesn't taste as nice as the real thing."**

"**JT," Kev spoke up. "We need to get out of here."**

**JT eyes widened in alarm. Of course, they were on a schedule. The other back at the cave would be expecting them back soon and they hadn't even left the colony yet!**

"**Crap!" JT exclaimed. "We've got to go. The others, they'll think something's happened!"**

"**Wait!" Nurse Brown called. "Let me come with you. You said there were others and I don't want to be on my own anymore."**

**Tom and JT share a look. Was it a good idea? Some of the younger ones had devolved a distrust of adults and even Kev was wary of Nurse Brown. Especially adult men, as most of those who patrolled the mountains for Kodos were men.**

**JT had only ever seen a women a couple of times. Most of the women who worked for Kodos seemed to patrol the colony rather than the mountains. But then there were more men working for Kodos than there were women. There was probably some reason for it, but JT didn't really care to think about it.**

**All that mattered was they were all ordered to kill him and the others on sight.**

"**I'm not sure if that's a good idea," JT finally muttered. "Tom's the oldest and the younger ones, they don't trust adults as much now…"**

"**I understand," Nurse Brown answered. "I have seen it too many times with children who have been abused, that distrust of adults. I don't see why this would be any different… Just let me join you until I know you are safely out the colony… Your aunt would never forgive me, if I let something happen when I had the power to prevent it."**

"**Okay," JT answered. "But are you sure? I mean in here is bad, but you can still see the damage outside… The bodies may be gone, but everything else is still there."**

"**It'll be fine." Nurse Brown replied. "I've seen most of the damage from the higher floors. I watched them clear the bodies away… Just do me one favour. Please, I have to know what happened to my partner and daughter." **

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"_Jim Kirk was on Tarsus IV at the time of the massacre," Ambassador Spock answers, his voice slightly strained. "He, Kevin Riley and Thomas Leighton were all three of the Tarsus nine… The only survives who saw Kodos the executioner face to face."_

Ambassador Spock's gaze settles on Doctor McCoy, who out of all of them didn't look surprised, only slightly horrified.

"You do not seem surprised, Doctor." Ambassador Spock announces.

"It's hard to be surprised by something you already know." McCoy answers.

"He told you." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

McCoy nodded his head slightly. Jim had told him, well told him about his dream, which was detailed enough. McCoy was sure Jim would tell him the rest when he felt like it, he wasn't going to push for more than Jim was willing to give on the matter.

Spock glances at McCoy before turning to the ambassador. "You believe this is the work of Kodos the executioner?"

"It is entirely possible." Ambassador Spock answers. "The events in my time line were different to those here… According to the library banks aboard the enterprise I served on, it started on the Earth colony of Tarsus Four, when the food supply was attacked by an exotic fungus and largely destroyed. There were over eight thousand colonists and virtually no food."

Ambassador Spock pauses for a second. "And that was when Governor Kodos seized full power and declared emergency martial law. Kodos began to separate the colonists… Some would live, be rationed whatever food was left. The remainder would be immediately put to death. Apparently he had his own theories of eugenics.

"He is not the first to use such methods, but he was certainly among the most ruthless, to decide arbitrarily who would survive and who would not, using his own personal standards, and then to implement his decision without mercy… Children watching their parents die. Whole families destroyed. Over four thousand people. They died quickly, without pain, but they died. Relief arrived, but too late to prevent the executions. There never was a positive identification of his body."

Again Ambassador Spock pauses, letting the information he had just given the crew time to sink in.

"There were nine eye witnesses who survived the massacre," Ambassador Spock continues. "Who'd actually seen Kodos with their own eyes. Jim Kirk was one of them. With the exception of Riley and Captain Kirk, every other eye witness was dead. It is my belief it is the same in this time line, Kirk and Riley are the only two left alive."

"Why didn't he tell us?" Uhura asks. "He must have known who it was before he was taken. Why didn't he and Riley tell us?"

"The information is classified." Spock answers. "There is a seal on their files, the date matches that of the massacre. They were not allowed to talk about it."

"So why did the captain tell McCoy?" Sulu asks.

"Fur they're best friends, laddie." Scotty answers. "Thare ur na secrets batween tham."

"McCoy ees also ze chief medical officer." Chekov points out. "Tarsus IV would hev medical records, da?"

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**Kev kept as much distance as he could between Nurse Brown and himself. He was uneasy around adults it was true, but the man had scared him half to death by grabbing him by the ankle at the hospital. **

**In that moment Kev had truly believed that was his last day.**

**And If it hadn't been for a shout, Tom doubted they would have made it to safety. That single shout alerted them to Kodos' soldiers, of you could call them that, approaching from behind them. They were quite a distance away, but they were still in range of the longer ranged weapons.**

**So they had run. **

**Kev, JT and Tom all started sprinting for the safety of a nearby alley way, they were used to this. But Nurse Brown wasn't. He wasn't an athlete and he'd never been much of a runner, so even though he was older and taller, he began to fall behind. Soon he was the only one left with in range of the weapons firing behind them. But it wasn't him who was hit.**

**It was JT.**

**A ricocheting bullet caught JT in the upper thigh. He crashed to the ground, gripping his wounded leg as blood seeped through his fingers. **

**This was the second time he'd been shot on this planet and this time it was much worse. **

**He couldn't move without his legs and with one of them currently hosting a bullet wound, he wouldn't be moving anywhere any time soon.**

**Suddenly he was lifted to his feet and thrown over the shoulder of Nurse Brown. JT let out a pained moan as Nurse Brown pressed down hard on his wound as he run. He cursed under his breath as bullet fire echoed around them.**

**It was almost like JT watched it happen in slow motion. He could see it happening, but could do nothing to stop it. All he could do was shut his eyes as the blood spray hit his face. **

**Nurse Brown had been shot in the back.**

**Nurse Brown collapsed to his knees, his breath common out in laboured gasps. JT was thrown forward, where a pair of hands grabbed his wrists and dragged him into the shadows of an ally way.**

**But all JT could do was hold Nurse Browns' gaze, as he knelt there. **

**Fear.**

**Pain.**

**Hopeless.**

**Sorrow.**

**Confusion.**

**There were the emotions in Nurse Brown's eyes and also the emotions JT felt, minus the confusion. A second bullet bursts through the man's skull, and JT watches his body fall forward. Behind him he hears Kev, but he couldn't make out if he said something or if it was another noise. Everything sounded like it was under water.**

**He could hardly feel Tom wrapping the wound on his leg the best he could, all he could do was stare at Nurse Brown, lying face down in a growing puddle of blood.**

**This was his fault.**

**If he had never gone to that hospital, if they had just stuck with the supplies they had… Nurse Brown would still be alive and safe, hidden away from Kodos and his men.**

**But now he was dead. **

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	32. Chapter 31

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter thirty-one:

**JT sat with his back to the wall of the cave they were currently hiding in. It had been three weeks since he'd been hit in the leg and Nurse Brown had died. Nobody had gone back to the colony since that day, they had enough supplies and weapons to last and JT somehow didn't think he could cope with going back there at the moment, it just seemed to get worse each time he did.**

**And he couldn't stop himself from thinking about Nurse Brown, he had a partner and daughter, both of whom he hoped were still alive. What if they were still alive? They could have been reunited when Starfleet arrived, but now they never would be, because he'd gone to that hospital and now Nurse Brown was now dead.**

**Somewhere deep down he knew it wasn't truly his fault, none of this was. But all he could think about was how he should have worked out some way to save him. Maybe if he had ignored his wounded leg, he could have dragged Nurse Brown out of harm's way. Maybe if he had got back up after he'd been hit, Nurse Brown wouldn't have been forced to pick him up and try and carry him to safety.**

**All the different possibilities that could have resulted in Nurse Brown still being alive, they just seemed to haunt his thoughts. How many more people were going to die? How many more people was he going to get killed? How long would he be able to keep the others safe? How long was he going to be able to keep them alive? How much longer was he going to be able to cope with this?**

**He was close to breaking point, they all were.**

**He'd seen so many people die, been unable to do anything about it. Lenore had died in his arms and Hoshi Sato had been dead when he found her. A man had hung himself, the same man who had given him the knife, when Kodos had tried to execute him for the second time. He had watched the others grow hungrier and hungrier, almost starve before they had found a way to get food.**

**It was slowly pushing him over the edge, it was doing it to all of them. The strain and the stress was getting too much. They were all under so much pressure. The pressure to stay alive. To kill or be killed. Every day Kodos' men were getting closer to finding them, they'd been forced to move on more than one occasion.**

**The only thing keeping him sane was the need to keep the others alive. Tom and Kev could probably survive, but the younger ones wouldn't stand a chance. If it wasn't for them, JT would have given up the moment that bullet made contact with his leg. His aunt and uncle had saved him, but if JT had been alone and only fighting for himself, he would have joined them a long time ago.**

**He was thirteen for Christ sakes! He wasn't even an adult and he was being forced to live through things most adults wouldn't survive! Or couldn't survive as the case may be here, as all those who were still alive were kids!**

**JT shut his eyes and rested his head back against the cave wall. It'd be a month at the most until Starfleet arrived and three weeks at the least. All they had to do was hold on. But that was easier said than done.**

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"_McCoy ees also ze chief medical officer." Chekov points out. "Tarsus IV would hev medical records, da?" _

McCoy sat in his quarters with his head in his hands. Where was Jim when you needed him? Oh, that's right he was currently being held by a genocidal maniac! McCoy sighs. They were still no closer to finding Jim than they had been before they spoke to Ambassador Spock.

All speaking to Ambassador Spock had achieved was a clearer understanding of what might be happening to Jim and Kevin right now and the likely hood was, there were dead or being tortured to death.

Spock had pointed out that Jim and Kevin may not be being held by Kodos as they had no proof, but the money was on it being so in McCoy's opinion. Even if it was proved to be Kodos who took them, they wouldn't even know where to being looking. It's not like Kodos is going to have his name listed in an address book!

If he'd been able to stay hidden from Starfleet this long, what chance did they have of finding him? So in turn what chance do they have of finding Jim and Kevin? The only hope McCoy had was Jim somehow found his way out and could contact them. Jim seemed to have a habit of escaping and getting himself out of sticky situations, especially when his crew was in danger.

He usually got injured in the process, but McCoy would rather have an injured and alive Jim in his medical bay, than a missing and possible dead Jim at some far corner of the galaxy. Plus Jim was a class A genius, he got think his way out of anything, if he had the determination. But would he?

He and Kevin were possibly being held by someone who had tried to kill them, had killed their families and made their childhoods a living hell. Would they have the strength mentally to get out of whatever they were in? McCoy knew Jim would never just give up, but everyone has a breaking point, was this Jim's?

Sighing again, McCoy reaches over to the cabinet beside his bed, pulling open one of the draws, he picks up an old fashioned paper book. But it wasn't a story book or journal. It was a handmade photo album and it had been a present from Jim when they graduated the academy.

And to McCoy it was one of the best presents he had ever received. It was a collection of old fashioned photos, some in black and white and others on colour, some were even hand drawn or painted and all of them from their time at the academy. The first picture was a charcoal drawing of McCoy when he had offered Jim his flask on the shuttle.

Jim had given it to him, with the speech about how if they ever got posted on different ships, it'd be a way to remember him by. Because without McCoy there to patch him up, they might never see each other again. Then Jim became captain of the Enterprise and McCoy chief medical officer, but McCoy still kept the album and it was one of his most treasured possessions.

And it also showed the side of Jim that most people never saw or chose not to see. Kind and compassionate, not just cocky and arrogant like so many thought he was. McCoy had learnt a long time ago that Jim's cockiness and arrogance was just a shield, a defence to try and stop people from getting close.

McCoy flicked through the pages, looking at the different photos and drawings. He hoped and prayed that they found Jim in time. McCoy didn't know what he'd do if they didn't. Seeing Jim's body in a body bag was soul shattering the first time, McCoy didn't think he could go through it again. This time there'd be no way to save him, no super blood or miracle.

He just wanted his best friend back alive and safe.

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**Tom stood on the ledge outside the cave the nine were currently residing in. JT's leg had healed, but he still wasn't the same and that worried Tom. But who would be okay after having a bullet pulled out their leg with a pair of tweezers and the wound stitched up with dental floss?**

**It was a miracle that the wound hadn't become infected and it was an act of god that they escaped the colony after Nurse Brown had been shot, it had been close, they nearly didn't make it. Kev had gone into shock not long after they made it back to the mountains, but who wouldn't be after seeing someone die in that way.**

**Tom himself hadn't seen Nurse Brown get shot dead, he'd been too busy trying to stop the wound on JT's leg from bleeding out. Tom had no medical experience, he only did what JT told him to, but JT had been in no fit state to tell him what to do. So when he had pulled the bullet out of JT's leg, he been repeating something he'd seen in an old earth TV show.**

**If JT had died that day, Tom would never have forgiven himself. There had been so much blood, his hands had been covered in it and when he stitched up the wound using dental floss, the only thing available to him at the time, he had really believed the wound wasn't going to stop bleeding.**

**But it had and JT was alive.**

**But who knew how long it was going to stay that way. Kodos was closing in and Starfleet was three weeks away at the least. Kodos was getting more and more desperate, but they still had supplies, they could stay hidden for a bit longer. **

**But this was a deadly game of hide and seek.**

**They were going to be found eventually.**

**By whom was the question.**

**Would it be Starfleet? Or would it be Kodos?**

**Tom sighed and looked towards the colony. There was smoke rising into the horizons' sky, big, thick plumps of dark smoke. Frowning Tom raised the pair of binoculars they had stolen from the colony to his eyes and focused in on the smoke.**

**Nearer the ground he could out the orange flames as they burned into the sky, something at the colony was burning and it wasn't a simple house fire. But what could possibly be burning? The colony still had a fire department and most houses were designed in a way to stop fires from spreading from street to street.**

**Suddenly a shower of burning debris was seen falling through the air, followed some seconds later by a sound of a distant explosion. Tom lowered his binoculars and stared at the smoke, whatever was going on at the colony couldn't be good and a fire like that couldn't be accidental. But an explosion like that? Tom had no idea what could have caused it.**

**It was too large to be a simple gas explosion, even if one of the main pipes had been hit. It reacted like a bomb going off, like the ones he'd seen on old earth documentaries. But there were no explosives like that at the colony and if there were why hadn't Kodos used them to try and kill them?**

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	33. Chapter 32

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter thirty-two:

"**Are you both insane?!" Tom demanded.**

"**It's possible." JT answered, but not with his usual humour.**

**Tom glared at JT for a second. "No sane person would even think about doing this."**

"**Tom, we have to." JT answered. "We have to find out what's going on at the colony. None of us know for sure what caused that explosion, we have to know what it was and what damage it's caused."**

"**Why?" Tom asked.**

"**Because if something bad has happened, we need to be prepared. What if people start fleeing the colony? What if someone finds us? What if they then go back and tell Kodos? Or lead his men right to us? What if they steal our food? Or try and kill us?"**

"**Then why are you taking Kev?" Tom asked. "You've been trying your upmost this entire time to keep him away from the colony and now you're going to take him back there! In the light of an explosion, the likes of which I've never seen before, to check it out?!"**

"**Kev can run faster than you," JT explained. "And he's also good at engineering. If this was mechanical, you'd never be able to tell! I know there's a chance the aftermath of that explosion is going to be a gory sight, but we have to work out what it was."**

**Tom sighed. "So what do you want me to do?"**

"**Stay here and protect the others," JT answered. "We'll be back, Tom, I promise. If it looks too dangerous, we'll come straight back, I swear."**

**Tom nodded. "Just be careful, who knows what Kodos could have lying in wait."**

**JT half smiled. "That's another reason we need to go. We need news on Kodos and what he's planning, we can't afford to be caught unawares."**

"**I'm glad you're doing this, in some ways." Tom muttered.**

**JT frowned. "Why?"**

"**Because it shows… Well, it's more like the old you." Tom answers. "For the last three weeks, you haven't been yourself."**

"**I know," JT replied. "Nurse Brown's death… It had me asking myself some questions that had hard answers. I'm not over it, not by a long shot, but there are more important things right now, than sitting crying in the corner."**

**Tom nodded. "We can grieve when this is over, when we're safe."**

"**Yeah," JT agreed. "When this is all over."**

**Kev appeared at JT's shoulder. "A patrol of Kodos' men have just passed the west point."**

"**Shit," Tom cursed. "Their getting closer."**

"**Which way were they heading?" JT asked.**

"**Back towards the colony." Kev answered.**

**Tom shook his head. "We might have to move again, if they get any closer."**

**JT nodded. "When we get back, take Alice and scout for another cave. We need to be prepared and know where we're going if they do get too close." **

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_He just wanted his best friend back alive and safe._

Kevin sighs, as he tried to find a comfortable position to sleep in. But being trapped in a room with one dead bodies and six skeletons, really did make it hard. Beside him on the floor, Jim opened one eye and looked at him.

"You're never going to get to sleep are you, Kev?" He asks.

Kevin shakes his head. "I just can't get comfortable."

"Maybe a bed time story will held." Jim half laughs. "Or maybe a lullaby."

Kevin glares at him. "What am I? A three year old?"

"It helped on Tarsus, Kev." Jim answers.

"That was different," Kevin answers. "This isn't Tarsus, it just isn't the same."

"How so?" Jim asks. "We're trapped in a room, which is probably larger than some of the caves we hid in. The women who tried to kill us on the Enterprise is working for Kodos. We're probably going to die here and it'll be by Kodos' hand, I bet. The others are here, be it they're all dead, and we're waiting for Starfleet to find us and save us."

"Not helping, JT." Kev mutters. "I just want this to be over… Why did this have to happen? I thought Kodos was dead and now he's going to kill us! I just want it to stop."

Tears rolled down Kevin's cheeks and Jim quickly pulled him into a hug. Kevin wasn't the only one who wanted this to be over. Jim had put Tarsus behind him a long time ago and that was where it should have stayed.

"They'll find us, Kev." Jim mutters. "The Enterprise has never failed to find us before."

"And then what?" Kevin asks. "Are Starfleet going to tell us Kodos is dead again, only for him to turn up in fourteen or so years' time and try and kill us again!"

"That won't happen," Jim reassures Kevin.

"How do you know?" Kevin asks.

"Because I'll personally insure that Kodos doesn't live to do so." Jim answers, darkly.

"You'll kill him?" Kevin questions.

"If it's the only way, I will." Jim replies. "But revenge and justice aren't the same thing. As much as I'd love to parade Kodos' head through the federation like a trophy, revenge isn't the answer. There are people out there who deserve more than that. People who may finally find peace, knowing Kodos has finally been brought to justice."

The two of them lie there in silence staring at the ceiling. The Enterprise would find them, they always did, but would they find them in time? They didn't even know where they were, so how could the Enterprise possible find them? Did Starfleet even know about this planet? And if they did, was it a planet that got visited often? Or did people think it was a dead planet and no one would think to look here?

"You never did tell me what happened that day at the compound." Kevin suddenly spoke up. "That day that Tom tried to save you."

"Do you really want to know, Kev?" Jim asks. "I'm not proud of what I did that day. I know it had to be done, but I'll never forgive myself. I made peace with it, but forgiveness is a different matter altogether."

"I want to know," Kev replies. "We all did things we weren't proud of on that planet… We did what had to be done, you were the one who told me that and you're right."

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**The entire side of the colony that had been wiped out with biological weapons, had been burnt to the ground. There was nothing left standing, even the hospital had been destroyed. Everything was piles of burnt rumble and smoking ruins. Kodos had successfully hidden all the damage caused by the use of the biological weapon.**

"**Well this explains how he going to cover it all up." JT muttered.**

"**How?" Kev asked. "I mean won't Starfleet be suspicious that half the colony has been burnt down?"**

"**It's a quarantine method… Well quarantine's not really right word." JT tried to explain. "By burning down this side of the colony they can use the excuse that they were trying to stop the spread of the fungus. It's the same reason they'll use for burning the crops… As far as I know, fire is the only thing that can kill the fungus, pesticides and everything else they've tried haven't worked."**

"**Why would they use pesticides?" Kev asked. "That's for bugs and stuff that eat the crops, why would it work on a fungus?"**

**JT shrugged. "I'm guessing they were just trying everything they could to stop it spreading. Who knows there could have been a chemical in the pesticides which could have killed it?"**

"**So what do we do now?" Kev asked, glancing round.**

"**We need to find what caused the explosion," JT answered. "There's nothing here which could have caused it." **

"**You mean we're going to have to go the other side of the colony?" Kev asked. "They'll kill us!"**

"**Then we'll have to make sure we're not seen," JT answered. "We have to do this Kev. We have to know what happened, so we can work out if it's going to affect us."**

"**And how do you think this is going to affect us?" Kev asked pointing the colony around them.**

"**Well this simply means Kodos has begun the cover up," JT answered. "He's getting rid of all the evidence that shows it wasn't the fungus that forced him to kill half the colony. Look around, can you tell that everyone who lived here killed each other? Can you see bullet holes in the side of buildings? Or blood stains on the pavements?... This just means we're next on the list, the main priority."**

"**So that's why the patrols in the mountains have increased?" Kev asked. "He's preparing for Starfleet arrival."**

"**Yep," JT answered. "And the only thing he has left to do now, is kill us."**

"**We should just get out of here, JT." Kev muttered. "We know he's more determined to kill us, this proves that. How is knowing the cause of the explosion going to change that?"**

"**Because there is nothing on that side of the colony which proves he massacred half the colony just because he didn't like them. There is nothing there apart from his compound, which last time I was there, showed no signs of what took place beforehand. Something else must have caused it, we need to know what… Who knows, it might even be able to help us." **

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed reading that chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	34. Chapter 33

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter thirty-three:

**Rioting was the answer.**

**The explosion had been caused by those who still lived in the colony, the ones Kodos had deemed worthy of living. It seemed, after finding out the food supplies was infected, Kodos began with holding food and people began to starve.**

**The colony was falling apart and people were getting desperate. A large group of rioters had stormed Kodos' compound and had thrown home-made fire bombs. One of fire bombs had started a fire, which had spread to Kodos' ammunition storage room and the whole thing had gone up in smoke and flames.**

**The compound had been largely destroyed, part of it was simply a rubble filled crater in the ground. The rest was a burnt out shell and according to the poster and flyers littering the streets, a great many of Kodos' followers had died. But there was no news on Kodos himself, so JT was going on the theory he was still alive. **

**JT and Kev sat on the roof of the town hall, watching as a couple of men fought over a piece of old mouldy bread. So far neither of them had seen any children or old people, it was just young adults and middle aged people. **

**That had JT worried.**

**The young and the old were the weakest, if Kodos had declared emergency martial law, which he would be forced to do in this sort of situation, that didn't bode well for the old and young. Maybe this time Kodos had killed for the good of the colony, to try and ensure the fit and healthy survived.**

**It would never have come to this, if Kodos had just asked Starfleet for help.**

**But JT still didn't know this for sure, the young and the old may have been too weak to be out in the streets scavenging for food. Maybe Kodos had just left them alone, to battle it out. Survival of the fittest and all that.**

"**Let's get out of here, Kev." JT muttered. "I think we've seen enough."**

**Kev shook his head. "How did it get this bad this quickly, JT? It's only been three weeks since we were last here…"**

**Kev looked up at the sky and JT watched the fighting men, he winced as one took a knife to the other and then run off with the bread, as the other laid bleeding on the ground.**

"**When you're starving to death and desperate you do things you'd never believe yourself capable of doing, Kev." JT answered. "Your survival instinct takes over and you do whatever it takes to live."**

**Kev glanced at JT. "Like you have?"**

**JT nodded. "Before I came, if someone had told me I capable of killing people, I would have laughed and told them to get their head checked… But now, I know I could kill again, if it meant you and the others would be safe… I pray it never comes to it Kev, but I know if it came to it, you'd be capable of doing it too. We all are."**

"**You really think so?" Kev asked, looking horrified, as they made their way from rooftop to rooftop.**

"**I do." JT answered. **

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"_I want to know," Kev replies. "We all did things we weren't proud of on that planet… We did what had to be done, you were the one who told me that and you're right."_

Admiral Archer was not having a good morning. After the captain of the Enterprise had contacted him a couple of days ago, everything seemed to have gone downhill from there. Both Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Riley had gone missing, taken from the Enterprise and Archer had received reports that the scientist Thomas Leighton had been missing for nearly a week.

Everything was pointing at the fact Kodos the executioner was still alive. Not that the other admirals would believe it for a second. To them, the governor was dead, the matter was in the past and that was never going to change. Archer had often wondered if that burnt body had really been Kodos, he'd never told the Tarsus nine or any others of his suspicions, because what if he was wrong.

Choosing to believe Kodos was really dead, was far easier than being confronted by the fact he was still alive and out there somewhere. If people even suspected him of still being alive, it would cause Starfleet a lot of damage and those who had suffered on Tarsus and their families would never find peace.

Archer pinched the bridge of his nose. What could he do? He had the same problem as Kirk, he couldn't talk about the events that happened on Tarsus IV. If he did, he could lose everything. His whole career could end in a dishonourable discharge. But what was more important, his honour and reputation or Kirk and Riley's lives?

The answer was one he hardly had to think about, but what if this had nothing to do with Kodos and it was all just a coincidence? It was something Archer was prepared to risk, because if he was right, Kirk and Riley were both in serious danger.

His knowledge wouldn't help the Enterprise find them, but it would give them a better idea of what they were up against. Kodos was a mad man, Archer had never meet him, but from the reports he had collected on Tarsus, the guy was well and truly insane.

Pushing a button, the face of his secretary appeared on his computer screen.

"How may I help you, sir?" He asks.

"I need a secure private line to the USS Enterprise, encrypted." Archer answers.

His secretary nodes. "Of course, sir."

Archer sits drumming his fingers on his desk as he waits for his secretary to complete the task. By now news of the captain's disappearance must have spread, the Enterprise was probably inundated with calls.

"Line one is open, sir." His secretary speaks up. "It's secure and all recording devices and other such things Starfleet has in place have been disabled."

Archer grins, he was glad he had hired the man Kirk had suggested. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, sir."

After a couple of seconds a young communications ensign answers, surprising Archer who had expected it to be Uhura.

"Admiral Archer." The ensign greets, after the standard greeting.

"I need to speak with acting captain Spock and the command crew right away." Archer informs the young ensign.

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"**Right," Tom muttered. "Let me get this straight, you think the colony has no food left?"**

**Kev nodded. "We watched two men fight over a bit of bread… a small bit of mouldy bread."**

"**That's…" Tom began.**

"**Not good news." JT suggested. "If anyone even thinks for a second that we have food, we could be in trouble." **

"**And Kodos destroyed the hospital, the one place he could have got food from. Or did he not know about the replicators?" Tom asked.**

"**I don't know, Tom." JT answered. "He should have known about them, the hospital must have had his permission to install them… But who knows, Kodos is by no means the full ticket." **

**Tom sighed. "How is it possible that things can still get worse?"**

**All three of them sit in silence for a moment.**

"**Do you think they'll survive until Starfleet arrives?" Kev suddenly questioned.**

"**Who knows?" JT answered. "If they eat the infected food, they won't starve to death, but what are the side effects of eating the fungus? They have enough food to survive, but almost all of it is infected. That bit of bread those two men were fighting over was the first but of food I'd seen that wasn't infected."**

"**So I think it's fair to say that the infected food does have bad side effects," Tom nodded. "Why else would they fit over something that wasn't infected?"**

**Kev frowned. "If you had the choice between eating something that looked gross and had a fungus growing on it or the something that looked gross but didn't have a fungus growing on it, what would you choose?"**

"**To be honest, Kev, there isn't a difference." JT answered.**

"**What do you mean?" Kev asked.**

"**Mould is a fungus too," Tom explained. "But mouldy food is safe to eat as long as the mould covered part of the food has been removed, well fruit and vegetables not so much, but bread and cheese are still safe to eat in most cases. So if they eat the bread all they have to do is cut off the mouldy parts and toast it."**

"**So it's still safer to eat the mouldy food than it is to eat the food infected with the fungus." Kev pointed out. "I mean it killed all the wildlife, didn't it?"**

"**It's possible," JT muttered. "But the wildlife could have died from starvation due to all the planets dying."**

**Tom nodded. "The only way we'll ever know for sure is if we eat some the infected food, or we see someone who has."**

"**Well I'm not volunteering." JT snorted. "And with all the trouble at the colony, I sure as hell don't want to go back there."**

**Kev nodded. "We still have enough supplies."**

"**Well let's just hope Kodos doesn't find us then." JT muttered. **

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed reading that chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	35. Chapter 34

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter thirty-four:

**Eleanor screamed.**

**JT spun on his heels, just in time to see Eleanor and Connor get washed away by a sudden flow of water.**

"**Flash flood." JT yelled a warning to the others, before running towards the fast flowing water, which seemed to have come out of nowhere. **

"**JT!" He heard Kev and Tom bellow after him, but he didn't stop.**

**The fast flowing water reached JT's waist and knocked him off his feet in seconds. Working with the flow of the water, JT swam as fast as he could after Eleanor and Connor, he knew they wouldn't be able to survive this current for long… He wasn't even sure if they could even swim!**

**After a minute JT caught up with Eleanor and pulled her on to his back, where she wrapped her arms around his neck, coughing and sputtering as he struggled to keep them both above the water. He muscles were aching and burning, the lack of food was causing his energy to drain much faster.**

**They still had food, but the rations they were eating daily weren't anywhere near the normal amount a human should be eating each day. They didn't have the luxury of eating as much as they wanted when they wanted, they had to last until Starfleet reached them. They had all been taking the dissolvable tablets, which were helping, but it still wasn't enough.**

**They only had to last one more week, a week and a half at the most before Starfleet arrived. They were so close, JT couldn't let Eleanor and Connor die now. If they were all going to die it would be at the hands of Kodos or not at all and not by some flash flood that had come out of nowhere. **

**They had survived too much for that to happen.**

**JT pushed himself forward as he saw Connor near the surface of the murky water. He looped an arm around Connor's chest and tried to find anywhere or anything that could save them from the water. As they were washed into a ravine, JT managed to grab a rock in the ravine wall and he clung to it for dear life.**

**Breathing heavily, JT managed to push Connor up onto the rock, where he coughed up water and collapsed on to his back, gasping and coughing. JT pulled himself and Eleanor up next to him, but Eleanor refused to let go of JT's neck and buried her head in his shoulder, crying.**

**JT tried to steady his breathing, he held out his arms and looked at his hands, which were visibly shaking. JT couldn't work out if it was from the cold water, the strain or a mixture of both. JT shut his eyes and breathed as deeply as he could, he could feel his whole body shaking.**

**Having got his breathing under control, JT opened his eyes and looked around. They were miles away from where they should have been and where the others were. To make it worse the route back crossed five different paths Kodos' men patrolled daily. **

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"_I need to speak with acting captain Spock and the command crew right away." Archer informs the young ensign. _

"We need to get out of here." Jim mutters, staring at the door to the room they were being held in.

"And how are we going to do that?" Kevin asks. "You tried everything we can both think of and so far nothing has worked."

"Well we're obviously going about this the wrong way." Jim answers, running his good hand through his hair. "We must have missed something, or we're not taking something into account. There has to be a way to get out of here, there just has to be!"

Kevin sighs. "Maybe the only way to open the door is from the other side."

Jim sits down on the floor staring at the door, he frowns slightly. "Kev come here."

Kevin gets up, walks over and sits down beside Jim. "What, JT?"

"Just sit still and concentrate." Jim replies.

"On what?" Kevin asks.

"On everything you know about this room, or what you think you know about this room and see if anything feels out of place or doesn't add up." Jim answers, looking at the door closely.

Kevin glances at Jim. "Why can't you just tell me? You obviously don't think something's right."

"It might just be my imagination, Kev." Jim answers. "We've been trapped in this room for god knows how long, maybe I'm seeing and feeling things that aren't really there."

"That happens a lot, does it?" Kevin tries jokes. "Trap a genius in a room and they slowly lose their mind."

"It's the boredom, Kev." Jim answers with a smile. "My mind goes crazy when I has nothing to do. I swear I'll start hallucinating soon, just for something to do."

Kevin laughs. "No wonder Doctor McCoy is always kicking you out of sick bay, you must drive them all mad!"

"Bones never kicks me out, well apart from when I go down there to annoy him." Jim shrugs.

"Yeah, I forgot you're always escaping." Kevin grins.

"Got to keep the old man on his toes." Jim answers. "Tell Bones I called him 'old man' and you'll be one dead engineer, Kev."

"I though you two were always insulting each other." Kevin points out.

"We are," Jim replies. "But when ever I call him 'old man' he finds a new hypo I haven't had yet, or brings forward my physical."

"Why do you even call him 'old man'?" Kevin asks. "He's not that much older that you."

"He calls me 'kid', so it's only fair." Jim grins.

Kevin shakes his head. "Does McCoy know about Tarsus?"

"Sort of," Jim mutters. "I had a nightmare the night before we were taken. I told him about, so he knows about the massacre and Kodos' speech."

"What about the rest of the command crew?" Kevin questions.

"As far as I know, none of them would even suspected this has anything to do with Tarsus IV… I doubt Uhura would have heard the ensign mention Kodos over the comm." Jim responds.

"I think I've worked out what's wrong with this room." Kevin suddenly exclaims, looking incredibly pleased with himself.

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**Kev run towards the raging water, JT had just been swept away, he was about to jump in after him when Tom grabbed him and pulled him back.**

"**There's nothing we can do for them." Tom spoke.**

"**What do you mean?!" Kev demanded. "We can't just stand here and do nothing! If that was one of us, JT wouldn't hesitate to jump in after us."**

"**What do you think he was doing?" Tom snapped. "Going for a nice little swim? He's gone after Eleanor and Connor… If they survive, they'll find their way back to us."**

"**We can't just abandon them!" Kev argued. **

"**What else can we do Kev?" Tom questioned. "We have to keep moving. If we don't find a new cave to shelter in by nightfall, we'll be doomed. JT and the other two will catch up, if they survive. We have to keep going."**

"**We can follow the water," Kev answered. "See if they pulled themselves out, or maybe we could throw something to them and pull them out."**

"**They could be miles from here my now, Kev." Tom replied. "That water might look fast, but it's a damn sight faster than that."**

"**So you're just going to leave them?" Kev asked. "They might need our help, Tom!"**

"**We cannot go back for them, Kev." Tom growled, beginning to lose his temper.**

"**Cannot or will not?" Kev challenged.**

**Tom shut his eyes, clenched his fists and took a deep breath. "I will not endanger all of us to go after JT and the other two. I will not risk our lives, to go looking for them, when they could be perfectly safe by now or dead."**

**Kev opened his mouth to say something, but Tom held up a hand to stop him, he wasn't finished yet.**

"**Once we're all safe, I'll go and see if I can find them," Tom continued. "If we go looking for them now we are bound to get caught my Kodos' men and I can not let that happen. What would JT say, if he knew we had endangered ourselves like that?… He'd sooner die than let that happen."**

"**I can't just leave him." Kev shook his head. "I don't care if he'd want me to go on and be safe. I cannot leave him behind… He wouldn't leave me, even if I was dying or going to slow him down."**

**Tom sighed. "We'll look for him once we get the others to safety. I can't do this alone, Kev, I need you to help me!"**

**Kev looked at the others who were standing behind Tom, watching the two of them with wide eyes. Eleanor and Connor had been the two youngest and if JT had managed to save them, he'd need help. The two of them wouldn't be able to walk all the way they'd need to be carried, Eleanor especially.**

**JT just wouldn't have the strength to carry them both on his own, not after saving them, if he had saved them, which Kev firmly believed he had. JT had proved time and time again he could survive where most others couldn't.**

"**JT needs my help more, Tom." Kev answered.**

"**No, Kev." Tom snapped. "We need to stay together and we need to find shelter, if we don't well die. The nights are just too cold. If you leave… There's a chance we won't make. You definitely won't if you're stuck out here after dark."**

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	36. Chapter 35

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter thirty-five:

**Kodos' grinned at JT, as he, Eleanor and Connor were forced to the floor in front of him. JT twisted and struggled against the grip of the guard holding him, but he couldn't get free. They had only made it a mile from where they had pulled themselves free of the flash flood, before they were caught.**

**JT just hadn't had the energy to outrun them carrying both Eleanor and Connor. JT was simply thankful they all hadn't been shot on sight, or they'd all be dead by now. But it other ways this was worse, who knew what Kodos was going to do to them?**

"**My, my, look whose back," Kodos smirked. "You have no idea how much it pleases me to see you again, my boy."**

"**I'm not your boy!" JT growled at Kodos.**

"**No, you're my prisoner." Kodos agreed. "Now we're past the formalities, where are the others?"**

"**I'll never tell a monster like you." JT growled at him.**

**Kodos back hands him. "Where. Are. The. Others?" **

"**I. Will. Never. Tell. You!" JT answered in the same manner Kodos had asked in.**

**Kodos glared at JT. "Tell me now, or you'll live to regret it."**

"**How many times do I have to repeat myself," JT snapped at him. "I will never tell you."**

**The truth was, JT didn't actually know where they were. All he knew was the direction they had been heading in, so Tom and the others might not even be where they were last. The flash flood could have caused them to change direction, they could be anywhere in the mountains!**

**The look of fury that crossed Kodos' face, would have had the toughest of men running for cover. JT had never before seen someone so angry. It was truly terrifying, but JT wasn't about to back down and give up. He was going to ensure Kodos never found the others.**

"**Now you listen to me, boy!" Kodos sneered. "You tell me where the others are now and your death will be quick and painless, but if you refuse… My men have methods of making men talk."**

"**I don't care!" JT answered. "You'll never find them and I'll never tell where they are. You're going to fail, Kodos. Starfleet will find out what happened here and they will end you!"**

"**It might come as a surprise to you, boy, but Starfleet don't kill people." Kodos smirked again. "They just lock them away and release them once they have been rehabilitated."**

"**I think they'll make an exception for you." JT answered. "And if they don't I'll kill you with my own hands."**

**Kodos laughed. "You don't have it in you, boy. You could never kill me, you don't have the guts."**

**JT pulled against the man holding at him, as he tried to get to Kodos. **

"**Maybe you're right," JT replied. "But I swear you'll pay for what you have done. And if you hurt Eleanor or Connor, you'll live to regret it. You all will."**

"**You're in no position to make threats, however pointless they may be." Kodos sneered.**

"**Oh no," JT growled. "It wasn't a threat, it was a promise. I, James Tiberius Kirk, here by swear that I will make you pay for what you have done and I will never give up. You'll pay for this Kodos, I'll personally insure it." **

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"_I think I've worked out what's wrong with this room." Kevin suddenly exclaims, looking incredibly pleased with himself. _

Spock and the rest of the command crew watched as Archer shifted in his seat at his end of the comm call, on the view screen. He looked nervous and slightly fearful, but also determined. He takes a deep breath and sips water from his cup, before looking directly at the command crew.

"_I trust you are all aware of the events that took place on the colony of Tarsus IV,_" Archer asks. "_Lesson on it were compulsory for all cadets._"

The command quickly agree, they had all been taught about it. The events were similar to what Ambassador Spock had told them, almost the same in fact. It was scary how two events in different timelines could be some alike. Even the way Kirk and Riley had nearly been killed aboard the ship had been the same!

"_Good,_" Archer mutters. "_Ignore it._"

Every single member of the command crew stare at Archer in confusion and dismay.

"I do not understand your meaning, Admiral." Spock speaks up.

"_Everything you were taught about Tarsus IV at the academy was a lie,_" Archer explains. "_It was a story created to protect Starfleet's public image, to protect those who survived and those who accidentally caused the events leading up to what took place on that planet._"

"If you don't mind me asking, _sir_," McCoy speaks up, his 'sir' sounding more like an insult than anything else. "Why lie about what happened on Tarsus IV."

"_Because the events that took place on Tarsus IV were Starfleet's fault,_" Archer answers. "_The fungus which destroyed all the crops was introduced to the planet by Starfleet._"

Archer holds up his hand for silence, before the command crew can respond. "_If you would let me, I would like to tell the true version events that happened on Tarsus IV… It will not help you find you captain, but it will help you better understand who you're going up against, if this is truly the work of Kodos._"

"Proceed." Spock all but orders the admiral, anger flashing in his eyes but his face is as emotionless as usual.

Archer takes a deep breath. "_Starfleet introduced a plant to the planet, which unknown to the crew had an exotic fungus on it. I don't know how they missed it, or if the fungus had been in an early stage of growth and the scans missed it… But the fungus began to spread. It killed every plant it spread to, which in turn began killing the wildlife of Tarsus IV._

"_Starfleet dropped supplies to the colony every eight to twelve months, so the fungus went unnoticed for that entire time. By the time Starfleet and the governor found out about it, it was too late. It had spread so far and killed so much. All they could do was try and contain the fungus, but everything they tried failed._

"_So in the end it was decided that supply drops would be every four months instead of anywhere between eight and twelve months. The fungus hadn't reached the crops yet, but Starfleet wanted to be safe. Kodos was advised to contact Starfleet is anything happened and they would respond straight away. But Kodos never did._"

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"**This is your fault." Kev snapped, as Tom placed a hand on his shoulder. "If you had let me go back for them, this never would have happened."**

"**You can't know that for sure, Kev." Tom answered, feeling guilty.**

"**If I had gone back for them, I could have helped him," Kev replied, shaking his head. "They got caught because JT couldn't out run Kodos' men carrying both Eleanor and Connor. If I had gone back, they would never have been caught."**

**Tom looked at Kev sharply. "You could have been caught too, Kev. You've never carried someone whilst running and being shot at. It isn't easy, Kev, trust me, it really isn't. JT may make it look easy, but it is one of the most tiring things imaginable."**

"**Kodos has them, Tom!" Kev spun to face Tom. "And he's going to kill them. Starfleet, even if they arrive right now won't be in time to save them! They might already be dead!"**

"**We don't know that for sure," Tom replied. "He could just be holding them prisoner."**

"**Why would he do that?" Kev demanded. "He wants us all dead! He's going to kill them and you know it!"**

"**He won't, Kev." Tom shook his head. "He knows we'd try and save them… He's going to use them as bait to try and catch us. He wants us all dead. JT, Eleanor and Connor are a means of doing that. No matter how much he wants them dead, he'll use them to try and get to us."**

"**And that's so much better, is it?!" Kev snapped. **

**Tom glared at Kev. "What do you want me to do, Kev? Huh? I had to protect the others. I had to get them to safety, just like JT would have wanted me to do! I'm sorry JT got caught, I really am, but there's nothing I can do about it! This isn't like last time, I can't just sneak in and try and save him! If we get within a mile of the colony we'll be killed!"**

"**We can't just leave them there!" Kev argued.**

"**The only hope they have now is Starfleet," Tom answered, looking away. "So we better hope they get here soon."**

"**No!" Kev exclaimed. "If Starfleet even gets close to this planet, Kodos will kill them. Starfleet will be their death sentence!"**

"**Then there's no hope, Kev." Tom shut his eyes, to try and stop the tears from falling.**

**He wanted nothing more than to go and break JT and the others out, but to do so would be a death sentence. This wasn't like before, Kodos would be expecting them and once they were dead, he'd just kill JT and the others, if they weren't already dead.**

"**I hate myself for doing this, Kev." Tom explained. "But JT's on his own, we can't do anything. If we do, we'll be killed and then where does that leave everything? Kodos gets away with what he's done here and Starfleet are none the wiser."**

**Tears rolled down Kev's face. "We're abandoning them, Tom."**

"**We have no choice." Tom answered. "We'd be dead before we even get to them, if we did try."**

"**What about the tunnels?" Kev asked in one last attempt to change Tom's mind.**

"**None of them led into the compound, Kev." Tom shook his head again. "There's no secret entrances or trapdoor. There are no tunnels or ventilation shafts. That place is a fortress. The only way in is over the walls or through the front door… We can't do anything Kev."**

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	37. Chapter 36

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter thirty-six:

**JT rested his head back against the wall of the cell he was in. His body hurt all over and his stomach felt like it was doing flips, if his stomach wasn't empty he would have thrown up by now, instead he just kept gagging on bile. It had only been two days and JT felt like curling up in the corner and never facing the world again.**

**When Kodos had mentioned torture he hadn't pictured this.**

**He had expected to be beaten until he fell unconscious or have his head held underwater until he couldn't breathe only to be pulled out just in time, gasping for breath before he was forced under once more... But this… This was different to anything he could have ever expected and it felt ten times worse and he couldn't escape it.**

**Across the cell from him Eleanor and Connor were curled up on the floor, so far Kodos had left them alone. They couldn't tell him where the others were hiding, they were just too young to be able to do it. To them one cave in one part of the mountain was no different to another one on the other side of the mountains.**

**Also it wasn't them who came up with the plans or the strategies, it was JT. So Kodos wasn't going to waste his time on them when he could focus on JT alone. But JT couldn't help but wonder why Kodos hadn't just had them killed. They were of no use to him, so why keep them locked up in the cell alongside him?**

**He was glad they were alive, it meant he hadn't failed them completely yet… He just feared why Kodos had kept them alive. What sick and twisted game was he playing? What sadistic plan did he have in store? Were the screams of a thirteen year old boy, who had been forced to grow up too fast and seen and survived things no one should have to, not enough?**

**Fear was what Kodos wanted, but JT simply didn't fear the right things. Kodos wanted JT to fear him and his men, but after JT first torture session, he felt nothing but hate and pity. Hatred at the fact they could do this to him and do all the things that had done to the others, all those who were dead and pity for the same reason… How twisted must your mind be, for you to be able to do such things?**

**What was Kodos threatening his men with that made them do the things they were doing? Maybe they were all mad, they had to be. No sane person could do this, lest JT hoped so. His step father had taken pleasure it beating him, but he was an alcoholic. Frank would never have done half the things he did drunk, sober.**

**JT opened his eyes and looked across at Eleanor and Connor, the two of them were both asleep and somehow managed to look peaceful, even in their current situation. They were so young, they didn't deserve this… JT thought back to what he had told Kodos, he'd make him pay for what he had done, but in his heart he knew he would never be capable of murdering Kodos.**

**He had shot Kodos before, but that had been different… He knew he couldn't just murder someone, no matter how much damage they had done. That was how he was different to Kodos, he'd always offer mercy, no matter what the crime or how much he hated them. **

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"_So in the end it was decided that supply drops would be every four months instead of anywhere between eight and twelve months. The fungus hadn't reached the crops yet, but Starfleet wanted to be safe. Kodos was advised to contact Starfleet is anything happened and they would respond straight away. But Kodos never did._"

"The door," Kevin explains. "Isn't really a door. It's just been made to look like a door… A door you'd never be able to escape through even if it was real."

Jim smiles. "Exactly what I thought, least I'm not imagining things."

"So where is the real door?" Kevin asks.

"I'm guessing from the air circulation in this room, the floor." Jim answers. "But that might just be from the window. If the door is airtight…"

"So how do we find it?" Kevin questions.

"Tap the walls and floor, listen for anything that sounds hollow," Jim replies. "Look for patterns in the walls and ground, which could form a doorway."

"What if the doors in the ceiling?" Kevin points out.

Jim looks up. "Then we'll probably never get out of here, Kev."

Kevin nodes. "So why has Kodos just left us here? I mean why not just kill us?"

"Why kill us?" Jim answers. "He can just leave us here to die a slow and painful death, as far as he's concerned we can't escape… Kodos has never been one to get his hands dirty, even on Tarsus, he got other people to do his dirty work."

"But the women who took us said Kodos wanted to kill us himself," Kevin mutters. "Why would he then trap us here?"

"Because he is killing us, Kev." Jim sighs. "Just not with his own hands. If we don't get out of here soon, we'll die of dehydration… Licking condensation off the walks will only keep us going for so long and it isn't healthy."

"So we really have to find that door," Kevin mutters. "What if he has men guarding us?"

"We'll deal with that once we've found the door and got it open, Kev." Jim answers as he runs his hands along a wall, being careful of his broken wrist, tapping the wall as he pressed his ear to it to hear for hollow echoes.

Kevin joins Jim as he searches for the door and their way to escape, but rather than checking the walls like Jim, he began checking the floor, where Jim said the door was most likely to be if the air circulation of the room was anything to go on.

"The women who took us, who is she, JT?" Kev suddenly asks.

Jim turns and glances at Kevin. "She was an ensign from security, her name's Tina… Brown."

"Tina who?" Kevin's questions, having not heard the last name Jim had muttered.

"Tina Brown." Jim answers. "She's Nurse Brown's daughter… How did I not realise that before now?"

Kevin's eyes widen. "She's his daughter! Why would she do this? She has just as much of a reason to hate Kodos as we do! His men killed her father!"

"Does she?" Jim asks. "Kodos blamed his death on us. As far as the colony knew, we killed him."

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**Archer stood watching as the supplies they were about to deliver to Tarsus IV were loaded aboard. Sighing Archer turned away, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, ever since T'Pol had informed him of the supposed prank call about Kodos massacring half Tarsus IV's citizens.**

**The feeling just wouldn't leave him be, it kept him awake at night and he often found his thoughts returning to that planet and what could possibly have happened there. Archer had never been one for gut feelings, but this really was rubbing him up the wrong way. The chances were nothing had happened on Tarsus and Kodos had been telling the truth about the man's mental health.**

**Archer turned away and began making his way towards the bridge only to change his mind and order the turbo lift he was in to go to medical. There was someone he needed to speak to, Dr ****Phlox****. **

**He ****just ****had ****to ****make ****sure of something ****if ****Dr ****Phlox ****didn't ****get ****him ****off ****track****, ****he ****had**** a ****habit ****of ****doing ****that****. ****Whether ****it ****be ****about ****the ****supposed ****sexual ****tension ****between ****him ****and T'Pol or helping him catch escaped bats at two in the morning, Dr Phlox had a way of getting anyone off the subject they wanted to talk about.**

"**Dr Phlox." Archer greeted as he entered the medical bay, which was for once completely empty. There was normally always an engineer or two in the medical bay, they seemed to have a habit of getting injured and who could blame them, engineering did expose you to the most danger aboard the ship.**

"**Captain." Phlox answered, glancing round from whatever he was working on.**

"**I need your opinion on a certain matter," Archer sighed, as he walked across the medical bay and sat down beside Phlox. "It's about Tarsus IV."**

**Phlox looked at Archer expectantly. "Go on."**

"**What if it's true?" Archer asked. "What if Governor Kodos really has massacred half the colony?... What do we do, Phlox? How do we help? Nothing like this has ever happened in resent federation history."**

"**There isn't much we can do," Phlox answered. "Those who have been massacred are long dead and those that were reported to have survived are most likely dead by now too… Nine human children shouldn't be able to survive that long, living in the conditions they must be in."**

**Archer nodded. "What of Hoshi Sato? I've tried to contact her time and time again, but there is no response. For the last month and a half I haven't even been able to connect to her comm, there's no signal."**

**Phlox watched Archer careful. "Sato is clever. If anyone could survive this supposed massacre, it would be her."**

"**I hope your right." Archer replied. **

"_**Captain,**_**" The voice of T'Pol called over the intercom. "**_**The supplies have been loaded, the ship is ready to depart on you command.**_**"**

**Archer nodded to Phlox and got to his feet. "Prepare medical, just in case."**

"**Yes, captain." Phlox answered and watched as Archer left the medical bay, his shoulders tense and his back as straights as ramrod.**

**In truth Phlox had already prepared the medical bay, he hated to admit it but he believed that the man who had phoned Starfleet had been telling the truth. But like he had told Archer it was too late to help the dead and those who had survived were most likely dead by now, after all how could nine children survive this long on their own? **

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter and sorry it's taken be slightly longer than usual to update. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	38. Chapter 37

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter thirty-seven:

**It was the morning of JT's sixth day of being held prisoner by Kodos.**

**Five days of torture and only enough food to keep him alive to be tortured was beginning to take its toll. Eleanor and Connor were still alive, but Eleanor was getting dangerously weak, if they weren't rescued or JT didn't find a way to escape soon, she'd die.**

**Connor was as healthy as possible given their current situation, but if he stayed there much longer he'd be going down the same path as Eleanor and that wasn't a good path to be on, it only ended in death, if you reached beyond a certain point.**

**JT still hadn't given up the locating of the others, but even if he had it wouldn't have mattered, they had most likely moved on from where they had been heading already. Plus JT didn't even know where they were for sure in the first place. He had however given Kodos the location of a part of the mountain which were unstable.**

**Fifteen of Kodos' men had been lost.**

**JT had found some satisfaction in that, but a part of him felt guilty. Fifteen men, they may have been evil and have carried out unthinkable acts, but they were still human. They were still living begins, who had feeling on some level.**

**But they were dead now.**

**JT looked up as footsteps sounded in the hallway outside the cell. It was no doubt the guards, ready to take him to his day of torture and pain. Pain that JT couldn't take much more of. Who knew what Kodos would do when that happened?**

**The door to the cell was thrown open, one of Kodos' men stood there in doorway, grinning in a way that made JT's stomach turn. JT knew who it was, it was one of the men in charge of torturing him, so it was strange to see him there as he usually sent someone to pick him up.**

**"****It's your lucky day, kids." He laughed. "Well I say lucky…" **

**He entered the cell and pulled a knife from his belt, he walked across to JT and traced the edge of the blade along his neck and along one of his collarbones. He grinned wickedly before glancing across at Eleanor and Connor, who were both watching him fearfully.**

**"****Starfleet will be here before nightfall," The man explained. "Kodos has ordered your deaths. He can't have any witnesses now, can he?"**

**JT glared at the man before him. Ignoring the blade near his neck, he pushed himself forward as much as he could and sneered at the man.**

**"****Well he's failed then, hasn't he?" JT growled. "Tom and the others are still alive and they'll tell Starfleet what he's done."**

**The man threw his head back and laughed. "They have to contact Starfleet before that can happen, boy. And just like always, Starfleet will be beaming down directly to the colony and the moment those little brats try to reach them, they'll be killed!"**

**"****You're lying." JT answered, glaring at the man. "Why bother torturing me then? If you can kill them that easily, why bother trying to find their location from me?... No, something happened. You have reason to believe Starfleet won't do that and that they'll go looking for Tom and the other and expose everything that has happened here for the entire federation to see!"**

**The man punched JT hard, sending him back into the wall of the cell with a grunt of pain and a split lip.**

**"****You think you're so clever, don't you boy?" The man sneered. "Shame you're not going to live for anyone to see it." **

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_"Does she?" Jim asks. "Kodos blamed his death on us. As far as the colony knew, we killed him."_

"In those first four months, between drops, the fungus spread to the crops and it was slowly spreading its way towards the colony." Archer continues to explain. "Starfleet dropped off the supplies and told Kodos to burn the crops, in hopes it would stop the fungus from reaching the colony. Nobody knew what the funguses effect on humans would be, so they couldn't risk it."

Archer watches the command crew of the Enterprise. Spock, as usual, was impossible to read, but the rest of the crew showed their emotions clearly on their faces and Archer didn't want to look to see what they were. He already felt bad enough, he didn't want to see their horror, anger or rage. It was only going to get worse as the report went on.

"Starfleet had dropped off enough food supplies to last the colony for the four months, it was enough last until the next supply drop." Archer carries on. "But Kodos decided this was the perfect opportunity to carry out something he had been planning for a long time…

"He was going to kill everyone he didn't like and those who he deemed unworthy of living on the planet. I don't know exactly why he didn't like them or why he was driven to kill them… What we believed to be his body was found burnt to a crisp in his compound. The body was never successful identified, it was just too burnt.

"All I know is what your Captain told me, when he was forced to make a report on what happen on the planet. How much of what he knows if true, I don't know," Archer shakes his head slightly, he had a feeling it was all true but without Kodos to confess to it, who knew? "And so Kodos ordered the executions of half the colonists… Four thousand people were sentenced to death and killed. Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Riley were among that four thousand, only they and seven others escaped and lived.

"About two months after the massacre had taken place, Starfleet received a call from someone on the planet, claiming that Kodos had massacred half the population and that nine children had survived. But the Starfleet operator who received the call didn't believe him, who would? That sort of thing shouldn't happen in this day and age.

"So they contacted Governor Kodos and they were told the man who contacted them was mentally unstable and the paperwork to prove it was sent through. The call was dismissed as a prank call, with the person who had made it, suffering from delusions.

"Word of the 'prank call' reached me," Archer sighs again. "Something about it didn't sit well with me. I believed Starfleet should have sent someone to check it out, if Kodos really had massacred half the population, why would he admit to it? So I called in a couple of favours. My finally mission before returning to earth was to drop supplies to Tarsus IV.

"So two month later, my crew and I were finally making our way to Tarsus IV. I had my crew prepare for the possibility that what that man had said was true. But as my Chief Medical Officer pointed out, there was little we could do.

"If what the man had said was true, they'd be nobody to save. You can't bring the dead back to life…" Archer pauses for a moment as he was sure he heard McCoy snort, but not in humour. He recalled the sacrifice Kirk made aboard the Enterprise. "And what were the chances of nine children surviving four month on their own? The youngest was three and the oldest was fourteen."

Archer paused, shut his eyes and takes a deep breath.

"When we reached Tarsus, I ordered my Science Officer to search the planet for signs of life. Deep in the mountains we picked up six life signals, they were beamed aboard immediately… Six children. Six of the nine children who survived the massacre were still alive. Kevin Riley was among them, but your Captain was not."

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**Archer and his crew were only a minute or two away from the planet. As they began their final approach to the planet, Archer began tapping the arm of his chair nervously. This was it, they were about to find out whether Kodos had massacred half the colony and of the nine children reported to have survived, how many were still alive.**

**T'Pol stood at her station, her gaze fixed on the viewport as she watched the planet Tarsus drew closer. It looked just like the reports said it would, nothing like the once green and vibrant planet it had once been. A planet made from thick forests, high mountain ranges, winding rivers and streams and lakes the size of small seas.**

**The planet could have passed for Vulcan.**

**The only difference was the lakes, rivers and streams could still be seen. Ribbons of blue flowing through the desert landscape with snow upon the highest mountains. It was beautiful in a haunting sort of way. It was the ghost of the planet it had once been and so was most of the population, if the 'prank call' was to be believed.**

**As the star ship entered orbit around the planet, Archer turned to T'Pol.**

**"Scan the planet's surface for signs of life." Archer ordered.**

**But it was pointless, as T'Pol had already began doing so, without the need to be asked. The results that were returned to her, nearly made her freeze in horror. If she hadn't been Vulcan she would have.**

**Tarsus IV should have had a population of just over eight thousand.**

**According to her scanner it was home to two and half thousand, possibly three thousand people.**

**Six of whom were deep within the closest mountain range to the colony.**

**"There are six life signals in the mountains, Captain." T'Pol informed her captain. "But it is not possible to tell whether they are adults or children."**

**Archer nodded, before hitting a button on the arm of his chair. "Captain to transporter room."**

**"_Lieutenant Commander Malcolm Reed here, Captain._" Reed answered through the intercom.**

**"Reed," Archer greeted skipping the formalities. "There are six life signals in the mountains, beam them aboard immediately. Have security on standby, just in case they are hostile."**

**"_Yes sir._" Reed answered.**

**After a couple of moments, T'Pol looked up from her station once more. **

**"The life signals have disappeared, Captain." T'Pol informed Archer.**

**"_Transported room to bridge._" Reed's voice sounds through the intercom.**

**"Archer here." Archer answered. **

**"_They have been beamed aboard, Captain._" Reed replied, his voice shaking slightly. "_Six children, Captain. The youngest can't be any more than seven._"**

**"I'm on my way," Archer announced, getting up from his chair. "Alert medical bay right away, Reed."**

**"_Already done, Captain,_" Reed muttered. "_Phlox is on his way._"**

**"T'Pol," Archer called. "With me. Lieutenant Mayweather the bridge is yours and contact Starfleet, they need to know what has happened here." **

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	39. Chapter 38

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter thirty-eight:

**T'Pol was the first to enter the medical bay, she knew she should have let the captain go first but she had to see the children for herself, it was akin to the desperation a parent would feel when their child was in danger. It was an emotion she was not familiar with and it was shaking her control to its core.**

**The sight which greeted her was six children all huddled together on one biobed, while Dr Phlox and the rest of the medical staff tried to coax them apart. All their actions seemed to achieve was making the children huddle even closer together, with the oldest of the group spreading his arms around the rest of the group protectively. **

**Archer glared at the medical team as he entered the medical bay behind T'Pol. Even someone such as himself, who had very little medical knowledge, could tell they were making the situation worse. **

**These were children who had been living in the wild, running from adults who wanted to kill them for the last four months. So to suddenly be trapped in a room, surrounded by adults who were trying to split them up, when all they had was each other for protection was not going to make them trust them.**

**"Dr Phlox," Archer muttered, leading the doctor away from the children. "I'm no expert, but I don't think this is helping."**

**"They need to be treated," Dr Phlox answered. "And as soon as possible."**

**"Then I suggest that you, Dr Phlox," T'Pol cut in. "Treat them on your own and as a group. Splitting them up is only going to cause them further stress and could cause aggression among the elders of the group."**

**"Fine," Dr Phlox replied. "But it will take longer."**

**"Time is not an issue here, Dr Phlox." T'Pol pointed out. "They are safe aboard this ship and none appear to have any serious injuries."**

**Dr Phlox nodded and walked over to where the children were still huddled and waved his medical team away. The oldest of the group of children narrowed his eyes at the doctor, it was clear he didn't trust the doctor yet.**

**"Who are you?" He demanded.**

**"My name is Phlox," Dr Phlox. "I am the Chief Medical Officer aboard this ship. Now, if you don't mind, who are you?"**

**"I'm Thomas Leighton." The boy answered.**

**"Well Thomas Leighton, if I may, I would like to check you and your friend for injuries." Phlox explained, holding up a scanner. "You've been living wild for four months, with no access to proper health care and it is unlikely that you have had a healthy and balanced diet."**

**"How'd you know it's been four months?!" Tom demanded, glaring at Dr Phlox.**

**Dr Phlox glanced towards Archer, unsure as to what to tell the children. How would they react if they knew Starfleet had been told about the massacre two months ago? That they had been forced to live and survive the way they had for two extra months because Starfleet refused to believe what they thought wasn't true.**

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_"When we reached Tarsus, I ordered my Science Officer to search the planet for signs of life. Deep in the mountains we picked up six life signals, they were beamed aboard immediately… Six children. Six of the nine children who survived the massacre were still alive. Kevin Riley was among them, but your Captain was not."_

Jim and Kevin knelt on the ground beside the hidden door to the room they were being held in. They had finally found it, hidden under the skeletons of the other dead members of the Tarsus nine. Jim's theory was they had been beamed into the room rather than placed there, after all how else could they have placed the skeletons over the doorway to keep in hidden?

It was an experience Kevin wouldn't forget in a hurry. Moving the skeletons of those he had survived Tarsus IV with and had come to know as his family, it was something he'd be having nightmares about for a while to come. Along with the flashbacks and nightmares filled with Kodos' speech about saving those who were worthy and watching his family die.

"You ready?" Jim asks him.

Kevin looks up and meets Jim's gaze, before nodding.

"Yeah, let's get out of here." Kevin replies.

Jim smiles and looks down at the door, before sliding his knife between the floor and the doors edge. He uses the knife to pry the door up and Kevin quickly grabs the edges and pulls the door fully open.

This had been their fifth attempt to get the door open and it had finally worked!

Kevin gently rested the door back flat against the floor, whilst Jim looks through the doorway into the hallway below them. The hallway was pitch black, there were no lights but there were also no guards either, meaning for now Kodos wasn't aware of their escape.

Kevin looks over Jim's shoulder and gulps.

Ever since Tarsus dark tunnel hadn't been one of his favourite places to be. After being forced to live in caves and run through pitch black tunnels in order to escape Kodos' men, hadn't left him with good memories. He was mad keen on hospital's either, he still checked under the beds in medical just to make sure there wasn't another Nurse Brown lying in wait to grab his ankle.

Jim drops down into the hallway below them and peers through the darkness.

The hallway appears completely empty.

He looks up and nodes to Kevin who quickly drops down beside him and frowns as he looks down the hallway both ways. It was far too dark to see anything, but Kevin got the feeling that there was something there in the darkness. Beside him, Jim seemed tense, so he probably sensed it too.

"Why are there no guards, JT?" Kevin questions, ignoring the feeling he was getting.

"I don't know," Jim answers, glancing round slightly nervously. "Let's see if we can find a light switch or something. I get the feeling we can't just say 'computer lights forty percent' here and the lights will come on."

"Why not?" Kevin asks. "Most buildings have automatic lights or lights which react to voice commands."

"This building is old, Kev." Jim answers. "It might not even be used anymore. Kodos would never trap us somewhere where we could be found by accident or I could possibly hack my way out of."

"So we could be anywhere in the universe right now, on a planet which nobody is even going to think about looking on?" Kevin replies.

"Something like that," Jim mutters. "The planet I first got captured on, we weren't scheduled to explore it. If it wasn't for the unknown power source, we would have gone straight past it and been none the wiser to Kodos still being alive."

"We're really going to die here, aren't we?" Kevin asks.

"Not if I can help it, we won't." Jim answers. "Kodos is never going to win, Kev, I won't let him. I made myself a promise on Tarsus that I would make sure he paid for what he had done and I intend to keep that promise… And if I have to kill him, I will."

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**The man drew the knife away from JT's neck as he glared at him. **

**He suddenly grinned wickedly and a shudder of fear run through JT's body, which he quickly suppressed. The man spun the knife in his hand, before looking across at Eleanor and Connor.**

**"So which one should I kill first, JT?" The man questioned. "It's only fair after all, you are their leader."**

**"Lay a single hand on them and I will kill you!" JT spat out, glaring at the man before him.**

**The man laughed. "It will give me great pleasure killing them, while you scream and beg me to stop."**

**"I will kill you," JT warmed again. "I can promise you that. You harm them and you will pay with your life."**

**"You don't have the guts," The man taunted him. "You may have killed a few of my bosses' men, but that was just luck. A few lucky shots, that's all, boy. You couldn't kill me if you tried!"**

**"I sliced a man's throat from ear to ear," JT snapped back, he hated himself for killing them, but it was kill or be killed. "I shot a man, he was dead before his body hit the ground. I shot you precious boss and his blood still stains the balcony wall and floor."**

**The man lunged at him, forcing him back against the wall and pressed the knife across his throat. He sneered down at JT, his eyes full of rage and hatred.**

**"Looks like you're going to die first after all, boy." He growled.**

**Before the man had a chance to press the knife deeper and slice JT's throat, JT kicked him. But it wasn't just an ordinary kick, it was one JT had spent weeks learning in training. Hoshi Sato hadn't just taught him how to speak languages, she also taught him how to fight. **

**She had after all been a black belt in ****Aikido.**

**The** **man** **crumbled**** to ****the** **ground** **with** **a** **pained** **groan**** and ****using** **his** **foot****, ****JT** **managed** **to** **fish** **the** **keys** **from** **his** **belt** **and** **up**** into ****his** **hands****, with ****one** **move****. ****After** **a** **couple** **of** **seconds** **he** **had** **got** **himself** **free** **and** **was** **rushing** **over** **to** **Eleanor** **and** **Connor****, ****he**** quickly ****freed**** them ****and** **picked** **up** **Eleanor** **and** **grabbed** **Connor****'s ****hand****.**

**He**** quickly ****led** **them** **from**** the ****cell****, ****locking**** the ****door** **behind** **them** **and** **trapping** **their** **would****-****be****-killer ****in** **cell****, so ****he** **couldn't** **come**** after ****them****. A ****couple** **of** **rooms** **down** **from** **their** **cell** **was** **the** **room** **where** **Kodos had stored their items. The things he had taken from them when they had been caught.**

**JT quickly grabbed his knife and the necklace Eleanor had been given by her mother before the massacre. Connor hadn't had any personal items on him, nothing to remind him of what he had lost. JT just hoped when Starfleet found them, they'd be able to return to their homes and collect a few belongings, if they hadn't been destroyed or stolen.**

**All they had to do now was escape undetected and find Starfleet.**

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	40. Chapter 39

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter thirty-nine:

**Archer watched the six children as Dr Phlox finished checking them over. As T'Pol had said, there was nothing seriously wrong with them, they were just a little malnourished and dehydrated. Dr Phlox would be keeping them all on an IV drip packed full of vitamins and nutrients for a couple of days, until they could stomach solid foods again.**

**He had also ordered them to drink little and often, to make sure their dehydration didn't get any worse and lead to further problems. He had informed them that a nurse would stop by to help them clean up and work the medical bay's sonic shower. **

**And also provide them with clean cloths and take care of other things such as their hair and nails, which hadn't been cut or cleaned properly since before the massacre had taken place. **

**T'Pol who was also watching them, frowned ever so slightly. It troubled her that they had only beamed aboard six children when there should have been nine. How was it that these six children could survive and be as healthy as they were, yet three others didn't make it?**

**"Mr Leighton," T'Pol asked as she approached them. "We were told there were nine survives. What happened to the other three?"**

**"They're dead." Tom answered. "Kodos caught them just over a week before you arrived."**

**"How can you be so sure that they are dead?" T'Pol questioned.**

**"Because Kodos wanted us all dead." Tom replied. "He never wanted you to find us. We're the only people who know what really happened."**

**"What about the colonists who weren't killed?" Archer asked, approaching the bed and standing beside T'Pol. **

**"Out of all the people who lived at the colony, we're the only ones still alive who have seen his face." Tom explained. "He wanted no witnesses, so he ordered us to all be killed after we escaped. He hunted us like animals for four months. The only reason we're all still alive is because of JT and now he's dead."**

**"Is it possible Kodos hasn't killed them?" Archer reasoned. "Governor Kodos has no reason to suspect we believed anything about the massacre or if we were even told about it."**

**Tom shook his head. "Even if Kodos didn't kill them as soon as they were captured, he would have killed them the moment you arrived here. The moment you entered this system, Kodos would have had them killed."**

**"But why?" Archer asked.**

**"Because he's the executioner," Kev suddenly spoke up, it was the first time he'd spoken since he'd been beamed up. "After all it would mean three less witnesses and if you didn't know about us, you would never have looked for us… You would have left and Kodos could have finished what he started."**

**Tom nodded. "And if you did know, it gave Kodos less people to try and kill, to keep quiet. He could have lied and said we run off and living in the wild had driven us mad. We are the only witnesses to the massacre, he wants us dead."**

**"You spoke of someone called JT, who is he?" T'Pol asked.**

**"You mean: who was he?" Kev corrected. "He was out leader and the only reason we're all alive right now."**

**"What was his name?" Archer asked, slightly curious as to who could have kept them all alive this long.**

**"His name was James Tiberius Kirk." Tom answered.**

**An eerie silence fell over the medical bay, as all the staff froze. **

**Everyone knew who James Tiberius Kirk was.**

**He was the son of one of the federation's greatest heroes.**

**And now he was dead.**

**Killed at the hands of the executioner.**

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_"Not if I can help it, we won't." Jim answers. "Kodos is never going to win, Kev, I won't let him. I made myself a promise on Tarsus that I would make sure he paid for what he had done and I intend to keep that promise… And if I have to kill him, I will."_

"_When my first officer asked where the other three were, the answer was dead._" The command crew watch as Archer pauses once more and glances round his office, avoiding looking at the computer screen and them. "_I was told by Thomas Leighton that your captain and the other two had been captured by Kodos and if Kodos hadn't killed them straight away, they would have been killed the moment we entered the Tarsus system._

"_As far as I knew, your captain and the other two were dead,_" Archer mutters. "_We arrived too late to save them. As of that moment Tom had only referred to your captain as JT that had been his nickname on Tarsus. My first officer asked him what JT's actually name was and he answered James Tiberius Kirk. In that moment I truly believed that the son of one of the federations greatest heroes had been killed at the hands of a mad man._"

"So what did you do?" Sulu asks, as it becomes clear Archer isn't about to carry no talking anytime soon.

"_I ordered a team to go down to the planet's surface and see what damage Kodos caused. When they reported back, I couldn't believe what they were telling me. So myself and another team beamed down to the planet's surface._" Archer's eyes gained a haunted look. "_The colony was in ruins. A fire was burning and it had consumed much of the colony, those who still had the strength to escape did, those who didn't burned._

"_That was the fire that we believed Kodos had died in,_" Archer explains. "_It killed hundreds of people as it burned, most of whom were Kodos' men... Kodos' compound was completely destroyed and still burning in places, half the colony was nothing but rubble, dust and ash. People were fighting over what little food remained and children and the elderly lay starving to death in the streets._"

Archer paused again and the command crew watched in silence, unsure how to comfort Archer in that moment. He had seen terrible things and it was clear he blamed himself for it, even if it wasn't truly his fault. It sickened the command crew to think what their Captain and Lieutenant Riley had seen and gone through must have been so much worse.

"_I ordered the children and the elderly to be beamed aboard, where they could receive treatment, whilst the security beamed down to the planet to take care of the people who remained… Those who hadn't died from starvation had been killed in fights over food, I can't afford for anymore to die that way._

"_Soft food and vitamin water was beamed down to the planet and split out among the people who remained. Blankets and other supplies were also sent down and distributed among the colonists, but it still wasn't nearly enough. Calls had been made to Starfleet command and relief ships were on their way, it just wasn't enough. We had failed the people of Tarsus IV and most had paid the ultimate price._"

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**JT hurried along the corridors and hallways, as he tried to find a way to escape the building and so far it felt like he was just going round in circles. Eleanor was beginning to get heavy in his arms, but she didn't have the strength to walk by herself and JT refused to leave her behind. **

**Even Connor was being to struggle to keep up with him.**

**As alarms began to sound, JT quickly pulled Connor into a shadow hidden part of the hallway they were in and ducked down. A small group of Kodos' men hurried past, armed to the teeth and ready to kill. Something big was going on but JT wasn't sure what. **

**But one thing was for sure, the alarm hadn't sounded for their escape.**

**Starfleet must have finally arrived.**

**This must be Kodos' last attempt to get rid of the others who were still hopefully alive in the mountains. Making a split second decision, JT quickly straightened up and began following the men who had run past. To find Tom and the others, they'd have to leave the building, meaning they knew the way out.**

**Following them undetected was far easier than it should have been and for a moment JT contemplated it being a trap, but as the men unknowing lead the way out of the building JT gave up that belief as the men run over to the waiting jeeps and began making their way towards the mountains.**

**Keeping as close to wall as possible, JT tightened his grip on Connor's hand and began making his way towards a stack of boxes and crates which turned out to be stuffed full of explosive materials. Not really one of the best place to hide, when people had been ordered to shoot you on sight…**

**Not far from them the compound wall was a scattered heap of rubble and beyond that was the fence which run the entire way around the colony. All they had to do was get to it, get over it and run until they were out of sight, then they'd be safe.**

**"There!" Someone behind them yelled. "Behind the crates!"**

**JT turned in alarm to find one of Kodos' men had spotted them.**

**"Shit." JT cursed, before he could remember he was in the presence of two small children.**

**He all but dragged Connor behind him as run, bullets raining down on them from behind and ricocheting of the ground at their heels. It had been inevitable from the moment JT saw what was inside the crates and with an explosion that left JT's ears ringing, the explosive material, exploded.**

**JT, Eleanor and Connor were all thrown forwards by the blast, caused by a single bullet that had been off target. As flaming debris fell back to the earth around them, JT couldn't help be reminded of the massive explosion Tom had described.**

**Slightly ahead of him, Eleanor lay on the ground unmoving and for a terrifying moment JT thought she was dead, until he saw the weak rise and fall of her chest. She had been spared most of the blast due to JT carrying her close to his chest, but JT's moment of relief was quickly replaced by a burning pain all along the back of his body.**

**Hundreds of wooden splinter had embedded themselves in his back as a result of the blast.**

**JT cried out in pain, but the ringing in his ears blocked out all other sounds, even his own cries of pain. **

**With a pain filled movement, JT reached up and felt his ears. **

**His hands came back bloody. **

**The explosion had shattered both his eardrums, the blood proved that. A movement out the corner of his eye caught his attention.**

**Connor was reaching for him, as tear flowed down his pale face.**

**JT reached out and gripped his hand, just as a shadow fell over him. He looked up and was greeted by a group of silhouettes, all carrying weapons. And JT didn't even have the strength to fight them as his world faded into a pain filled void of endless darkness. **

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter, it's slightly longer than usual. Feel free to point out any mistakes you notice, as I will happily go back and correct them. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	41. Chapter 40

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter forty:

**Archer and his team walked through the ruins of Tarsus IV. **

**More of his crew had beamed down to the surface and they had gotten the fire under control, now that the fire was out the true damage could clearly be seen. Archer knew under the burned ruins of people's homes, were the burnt bodies of those who had once lived there, now nothing more than a blackened crisps of a human beings.**

**Archer and his team were making their way towards Kodos' compound, to see if the man reasonable was still alive and able to answer for his crimes. But Archer had little hope, one of his science officers had worked out that the fire had started at or near the compound, due to the way the fire was spreading. **

**Archer motioned his team to halt, as he caught sight of movement ahead.**

**A group of men were moving three objects between them, Archer was guessing they were Kodos' men, was not far ahead of them, in a small area that had escaped the fire. They were in the process of tying the three objects to some posts near the fence, but Archer couldn't make out what they were from this distance, but there were three of them for sure.**

**"Is that children?" One of his team suddenly asked. "Oh my god, its children!"**

**"Children?" A second questioned.**

**The first to speak pointed towards the posts. "They've just tied three children to those posts."**

**"How can you be sure?" A third asked. "I can't see from here."**

**"Trust me," The first answered. "It's children."**

**"Well then," Archer announced. "Let's go see what's going on. Approach with caution, these men could be hostile and most likely armed."**

**And so Archer and his team approached the group of Kodos' men, as they drew closer it became clear that the officer who had said they were tying children to the posts, was right. It also became clear that the men were about to kill the children, as they readied their weapons.**

**"Phasers on stun." Archer ordered his team, while drawing his own phaser. "I want these men alive."**

**Two of the three children were unconscious.**

**And all of them had visible injuries. **

**The one who appeared in the worst shape was the oldest of the three, he had dried and fresh blood on most of his face, from what Archer could see it seemed to be coming from his ears. He was also far to skinny to be considered healthy, as were the other two, the youngest of whom was unconscious too and appeared to be quite ill.**

**"I demand to know what's going on here!" Archer demanded as he and his team reached the Kodos' men unnoticed. "We arrive to drop off supplies and find the colony in anarchy."**

**One of the men turned to Archer. **

**"Watch your tone," The man warned. "You are under no authority to give us orders or make demands of us. You have a problem you talk to our boss."**

**"Stop what you are doing immediately or we will be forced to take action." Archer's head of security warned.**

**The man who had first turned to address them, turn back around to face them, as he had turned back to carry on what he had originally been doing.**

**"I have been ordered to execute these children," The man informed them, getting angry. "Because if I don't, it'll be my family in their place. As I said before if you have a problem, talk to my boss."**

**"What have these children done that deserves such a punishment?" Archer quickly questioned.**

**If he could keep them talking, maybe they could end this without the need for violence.**

**"They stand in the way of the revolution," The man answered. "While they are alive the revolution can never be successful."**

**He turned back to the children and the other men.**

**"What are you waiting for?!" He demanded. "Kill them!" **

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_"Soft food and vitamin water was beamed down to the planet and split out among the people who remained. Blankets and other supplies were also sent down and distributed among the colonists, but it still wasn't nearly enough. Calls had been made to Starfleet command and relief ships were on their way, it just wasn't enough. We had failed the people of Tarsus IV and most had paid the ultimate price."_

Jim pushes a door open and steps out in to a corridor, blinking at the sudden light, he glances towards the cause of it. One of the corridors walls was made entirely from windows, it seemed to form one large window reaching from floor to the ceiling and the entire length of the corridor, overlooking a stunning landscape and letting in natural light.

As Jim approaches the windows, he takes in the sight before him.

Beyond the windows were the ruins of an old mining site and stretched for as far as the eye could see. The site clearly hadn't been used for many years, but many of the mining structures remained standing.

Bright vibrant plants grew between the piles of rocks and rubble, drawn up from below the ground when the mining had still been in process. While vines and climbing plants had grown up and around the abandoned mining equipment, causing a contrast between the dull metal colours and the bright coloured flowers which were in bloom.

Young trees grew tall, casting shadows over the landscape, while bright coloured birds danced through the sky. Small mammals and could be seen scurrying through the undergrowth as the foraged for food, the largest animal being the same size as an earth domesticated cat species.

A lizard run up the widow Jim's standing in front of and out of sight. The place was a tropical paradise. It was somehow fitting that they had been doomed to die here, as the place reminded Jim of Tarsus IV before the fungus had destroyed everything.

"Wow," Kevin mutters from beside Jim. "This place is… It just like Tarsus before everything died."

Jim nodes. "It is… It's kind of scary, how similar it is."

"What is this place?" Kevin asks, as he watches a flock of brightly coloured birds fly past.

It was like a tropical rainforest found on earth and the vast forests which had once thrived beyond the mountain on Tarsus… The forests that had once covered much of the planet's surface beyond the colony and its surrounding farm land.

"It's an old mining planet," Jim explains. "I doubt it's been used in the last thirty years or so… When the people leave, nature takes over."

"It sort of makes me wonder what Tarsus IV looks like now…" Kevin shakes his head slightly.

"A wasteland." Jim replies. "As long as the fungus is still on that planet, nothing will grow back. It'll be a long time before that planet truly recovers and even longer before people go back and settle there again."

Kevin snorts. "All the credits in the universe wouldn't be enough to get me to agree to go back to that cursed planet."

"Too many ghosts," Jim agrees. "Come on let's keep going, this place must have a communications room… Even if we can't get anything to work, it'll at least tell us where we are."

"And maybe a replicator." Kevin adds, as his stomach rumbles.

Jim laughs. "And a replicator."

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**Dr Phlox's heart almost stopped as the three children were beamed directly into the medical bay. It was quite a sight, blood covered children, weak and far too skinny to be healthy. The smell of smoke seemed to cling to them and ash and semi burnt clothing covered them. **

**Never before had he seen such injuries on children so young.**

**T'Pol who had opted to stay in the medical bay with Dr Phlox, looked murderous. Well as murderous as a Vulcan could look without showing any sign of emotion, but it was to be expected, Vulcan's held their children in very high regard. **

**To see this happening to children… Well it would have any Vulcan on the war path, along with many other species.**

**"Prep surgery room one." Dr Phlox ordered. "The next sixty minutes will determine whether this boy lives or not."**

**The oldest of the three was the most badly injured, whilst the youngest was incredibly ill and even the treatment Dr Phlox could provide might not be enough to save her. The third had similar injuries to the oldest, but they were far less serious.**

**"JT!" Kev suddenly exclaimed, as he caught sight of the oldest child beamed aboard, as he was rushed past towards surgery followed by Dr Phlox. "That was JT!"**

**T'Pol quickly got to her feet from where she was sitting. She had been observing the children and also keeping them company, not that any of them had come near her, none of them seemed to trust adults of any species yet it seemed.**

**Tom who had jumped up from his biobed, hurried over to the other two children who were being rushed off for treatment.**

**"Eleanor and Connor too." Tom collapsed to his knees, tears ran down his face. "They're alive. They survived. They survived!"**

**Kev grinned. It was the first show of emotion T'Pol had seen from him that wasn't sadness and anger. She turned and looked towards the door Dr Phlox and the child, JT, had gone through. He obviously meant a lot to the other children, more than she had originally thought.**

**"They're alive!" Tom repeated. "Oh my god, they're alive!"**

**It was almost like he couldn't believe it.**

**But who would? Kodos should have killed them.**

**Tom shakily got to his feet and walked back over to his bed, where he sat down heavily and rested his head in his hands as his shoulders began to shake. He didn't quite know what he was feeling, it was a mash up of a hundred different emotions.**

**He'd been so sure that JT had been dead, that Kodos had killed him and now he was alive. Tom let the tears stream down from his eyes, he didn't bother trying to keep them at bay. His best friend, his brother in all but blood, was still alive.**

**But with the relief and happiness came guilt.**

**He had left JT in Kodos' hands to suffer and be tortured.**

**Who knew what horrors JT had been put through? And Tom had left him there to suffer it all on his own. In the back of his mind a voice told him JT wouldn't have wanted him to risk all their lives to save him, but it didn't make him feel any better.**

**JT was alive.**

**And he had all but abandoned him to suffer whatever cruel games Kodos had wanted to play.**

**How could he ever forgive himself? **

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	42. Chapter 41

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter forty-one:

**It took a few moments for JT to fully wake up, as he pushed his way past the sedatives and painkillers. He focused on the beeping of the heart monitor, but it seemed muffled, like his ears had been stuffed with cotton wool. He forced his eyes open only to snap them shut at the light of the medical bay around him.**

**It's only then he felt the tube down his throat, reaching up he began to pull the tube out. His aunt had taught him how to insert and remove these kinds of tubes, so he was in no danger of causing himself any further harm. He gagged slightly as the tube slid up his throat… It was a feeling like no other and hard to explain if you hadn't experienced it yourself.**

**The list of reasons why he hated hospitals was steadily growing.**

**It started with the death of his aunt. **

**He couldn't enter a hospital without being reminded of her and in turn her death. **

**Then there was the hospital on Tarsus and Nurse Brown… **

**He couldn't walk through a hospital and not have flash backs to that place, even looking around the private room he was in, he could see the blood stained walls and floors and the human remains and decomposing flesh.**

**Then there had been Kodos' method of torture.**

**That was something JT didn't want to think about ever again. **

**To be honest he didn't want to think about anything that had happened on that planet. All he cared about now was finding the others. After all he was on a Starfleet vessel, they had be here, because if they weren't they were dead.**

**And that was something he refused to believe.**

**Well JT hoped it was a Starfleet vessel, he could feel the hum of the warp engine and Kodos would have no reason to treat his injuries, when it was his men who had caused them. So it had to be Starfleet, but how did he get here? The last thing he remembered was passing out after the explosion and the ringing in his ears, which was thankfully gone now.**

**JT unhooked himself from the medical equipment he had been hooked up to and headed towards the door, as it opened he was greeted by the sounds, sights and smells of the medical bay. The air was a mixture of disinfectant, blood and sick, while nurses and doctors rushed around treating people and yelling orders. **

**There were many people being treated, but most seemed in an overall healthy state. A bit on the light side, but nothing dangerous. All were either really young or really old, with a few odd patients which were in between. **

**Suddenly one of the medical staff, a nurse, spotted him. She stopped what she was doing and stared at him, before turning away and calling to someone, but JT was too far away to hear who she called.**

**Not taking a chance at being forced back into his room before he had a chance to find the others, JT quickly slipped through the medical bay, avoiding the medical staff as he did so and glancing at each bed as he passed them, but none of patients were the ones he was looking for. **

**He reached a second private room and quickly ducked into it as a doctor heads his direction, seemingly looking for someone. From the marking on his uniform, JT knew he was the Chief Medical Officer.**

**Looking round the room, JT spotted Eleanor lying on the bed hooked up to more medical equipment than he had been hooked up to. He quickly hurried over to her and glanced at the read out the machine above her head, she was stable but still seriously ill.**

**JT sat down on the chair beside her bed and shut his eyes. **

**She was alive.**

**JT had feared the explosion had been the final straw for Eleanor. **

**She had been breathing when he had passed out, but how long that been before Starfleet had found them? For all JT knew it could have been hours or days… Well maybe not days, Kodos' men would have found them and killed them by then.**

**With that chain of thought, JT wondered how long he'd been unconscious for. He couldn't feel, any pain, but that might still be the painkillers in his system, who knew how long they'd carry on working for? When he'd woken he could feel the sedatives beginning to wear off, so it could have been an induced coma. **

**But JT didn't think the injuries he'd received from the explosions would be cause for such treatment. Thinking about, he didn't know what injuries he had got from the explosion. All he remembered was the pain and the ringing in his ears and the blood on his hands.**

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"_Too many ghosts," Jim agrees. "Come on let's keep going, this place must have a communications room… Even if we can't get anything to work, it'll at least tell us where we are."_

"_And maybe a replicator." Kevin adds, as his stomach rumbles._

_Jim laughs. "And a replicator." _

Archer pauses as he runs a hand through his hair and tries to maintain his outward appearance of calm.

Not only was he breaking every rule he could think of by telling the command crew this kind of information, he was also dealing with emotions and memories he hadn't had to deal with in a long time.

Ever since Tarsus he had been haunted by the fact he had failed the people of Tarsus IV.

He knew deep down it wasn't his fault, but he should have done something more… There must have been something more he could have done. He and his crew tried to save as many as they could, but some of the people were just too far gone to be saved.

It had been the elderly that had suffered the most casualties.

The cold weather and little to no food had left most of the weak and dying or dead.

Dr Phlox had treated as many as he could and tried to save as many as he could, but there had still been more deaths than any of them would have liked. So many of the children had been terribly sick too, some just hadn't pulled through.

It had been a true disaster, a failure on Starfleet's part and Archer would have given anything for it not to have happened.

If he could go back in time and change it, he would.

"After the fire had been gotten under control," Archer continues to explain. "I myself and a team beamed back down to the surface of the planet, to see if we could find Kodos. As we approached the compound, we saw a group of men… They were tying three children to posts and were about to shoot them.

"We questioned them and were told Kodos had ordered the children's deaths, for while they were alive the revolution could never be successful. From what I gather those men had no choice but to follow their orders… If they didn't kill the children, it's be their families in their place. We stunned the men before they could kill the children and then had them beamed aboard.

"The men were taken to the brig and the children were beamed straight to the medical bay. The oldest of the three, was the most badly injured… He was bleeding out heavily from multiple wounds, most of which were on the backside of his body. Almost his entire face was covered with blood, which was coming from his ear and a wound over his right temple.

"The youngest of the three was also in a very bad way. She was incredibly ill. The middle of the three was the only one who didn't seem too badly injured, he still required treatment, but nothing nearly as extensive as the other two.

"It wasn't until the three had been beamed into the medical bay that we found out who the three children were… They were your captain and the other two members of the Tarsus nine. Two other the other members of the nine identified them.

"Your captain was in surgery for eight hours and was unconscious for almost a week. Dr Phlox had been unsure whether or not he'd pull through. The youngest was unconscious for a week and a half and had to remain on medical support for a further two weeks, even after all that she was still weak and sickly. The other one, was able to leave medical after five days and join the others.

"It was only after your captain told us what had happened down on the planet that we began to fully understand the true horrors that had occurred on that planet," Archer pauses for a second, before making up his mind. "Acting Captain Spock, I am about to send you a file. It is your captain's records from Tarsus IV, including his personal statement and medical records.

"As first officer, you would have had clearance to access the file if it wasn't for the seal that's in place, as is the way with most files such as these. As would the Chief Medical Officer. I trust you'll keep these files safe, Acting Captain and only show those authorised to see it?"

"_Affirmative, Admiral._" Acting captain Spock responds across the view screen.

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**It was T'Pol who found JT curled up in the chair beside Eleanor's bed, but he wasn't asleep, he was just watching Eleanor in a way that made T'Pol think he was scared to look away in case she were to suddenly die or get worse. Almost as if, as long as she was in his sight, no harm could come to her.**

"**What do you want?" JT asked, a hard edge to his voice.**

"**Dr Phlox asked me to look for you," T'Pol answered. "He was worried when you were not in your room and nobody could find you."**

**JT snorted. "I'm fine."**

"**You have suffered grave injuries," T'Pol pointed out. "Dr Phlox had not cleared you to leave your room, you could be causing yourself further harm."**

**JT turned sharply to face T'Pol. "I said I'm fine."**

"**You are clearly not 'fine'," T'Pol objected. "You must return to your room immediately, so Dr Phlox can check you over."**

**JT glared at T'Pol. "If Dr Phlox wants to check me over, he does it here! I am not leaving Eleanor here on her own!"**

"**She is perfectly safe here." T'Pol replied.**

"**I don't care if she's safe here or not!" JT exclaimed. "I am not leaving her on her own!"**

"**Your injuries must be checked." T'Pol answered, raising an eyebrow.**

"**The Dr Phlox can check them here." JT snapped. "I am not leaving Eleanor on her own, as I keep telling you."**

"**No harm will come to her." T'Pol pointed out.**

**A look of anger crossed JT's face. "Do you have any idea what we've gone through together? Do you?!"**

"**I can only speculate to what you have endured." T'Pol answered.**

"**So then you don't know," JT answered. "Do you know how scary it is, to wake up in a room on your own, not knowing if the people you've tried so hard to protect are alive or dead? How do you think that feels?"**

"**I do not know." T'Pol answered.**

"**Well you could never possibly even begin to understand why I can't leave her on her own." JT replied. "To Eleanor, I am the closest thing she has to a parent, an older sibling, a family. When she wakes up, because she is going to wake up, she's going to need me here… Because she's going to be scared and frightened and not know what's going on. She's going to need the only person she trust, to turn to when she scared and in need of comfort and I'm going to be here for her."**

"**Please excuse me for a moment," T'Pol muttered. "While I go and fetch Dr Phlox." **

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter and sorry it's taken me slightly longer than normal to update. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	43. Chapter 42

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter forty-two:

**Kevin hugged JT and refused to let go.**

**Dr Phlox had deemed JT healthy enough to visit the others and so JT had finally left Eleanor's side and gone to visit the others. **

**All nine of them had survived.**

**The relief JT had felt when he found out all the others were still alive had been enough to make him collapse to his knees from the sheer relief. It was a feeling like no other and JT had felt like crying from the happiness of it. **

"**Come on, Kev," JT muttered, rubbing Kev's back as he began to cry into his shoulder. "I'm fine. We're fine. We survived. We're safe."**

"**I thought you were dead." Kev sobbed. "I thought Kodos had killed you."**

"**Kodos is going to have to do better than that, if he wants to kill me." JT reassured Kev.**

"**I should have gone back for you." Kev muttered into JT's shoulder.**

"**Kev!" JT answered sharply. "If you had gone back for me, Kodos would have killed you. That was what he wanted. He wanted you and the others to come after me so he could kill you. No matter what happens, Kev, I never want you to risk your life for me. It's just not worth it."**

"**How is it-" Kev began.**

"**No!" JT snaps. "Don't ever risk it, Kev! Don't ever risk it… Believe me when I say it truly isn't worth it. You have so much to live for, don't throw that away trying to save me… It's not worth it, believe me, it just isn't worth it."**

"**You saved me, JT." Kev answered. "You saved all of us! Without you, we'd all be dead. I'd do anything to save you! I'd follow you to the ends of the universe, you wouldn't even need to ask."**

**JT smiled slightly. "That means a lot, Kev. Thanks."**

**Finally Kev let go of him and stepped back. He gave JT a watery smile and wiped his eyes, as he did so Tom stepped around him and pulled JT into a tight embrace.**

"**You're alive." Tom muttered. "I still can't believe it, you're really alive!"**

"**It's good to see you too, Tom." JT smiled.**

"**If I had known you were alive…" Tom whispered.**

"**You made the right choice, Tom." JT told him. "I didn't want you to risk your lives to try and save us. We were a lost cause."**

"**If I had known I could have told Starfleet," Tom argued. "They could have found you sooner! You wouldn't have been injured!"**

**JT laughed. "For the entire time Kodos held me prisoner, he tortured me. It would have been nice to have been spared the explosion, but I still wouldn't have escaped injury."**

**Tom stepped back and looked JT over. **

"**What did he do to you?" Tom demanded.**

**JT glanced around. "Not here, not now, Tom."**

**Tom nodded in understanding. "Whenever you're ready, JT."**

"**That might not be for a long time, Tom." JT answered with a slight smile.**

"**But I'll be here when you're ready to tell," Tom replied. "After all, what's family for?"**

**JT grinned at Tom, before pulling him into a hug. "Thanks. All of you, you're the only family I have left."**

**Kev smiled. "We not going anywhere, JT."**

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"_As first officer, you would have had clearance to access the file if it wasn't for the seal that's in place, as is the way with most files such as these. As would the Chief Medical Officer. I trust you'll keep these files safe, Acting Captain and only show those authorised to see it?"_

"_Affirmative, Admiral." Acting captain Spock responds across the view screen. _

"So where exactly are we, JT?" Kevin asks, as he looks around the room they were in.

"I don't know." Jim answers, from where he was trying to get the room's main computer working.

The room itself was filled with dust, it clearly hadn't been used for a long time, longer than Jim had originally thought. Even the computer was older than the models he was used to messing around with and he had learnt to fix computer people classed as antiques!

Dust particles danced through the air and were illuminated every time they passed through a beam of light. Every available surface was covered in thick layers of dust and the monitor screens which lined the walls were also covered in dust.

"What are you doing?" Kevin asks, as notices Jim is elbows deep in the back of a computer.

"I'm trying to see if this computer has a backup battery." Jim explains. "And if so, can I get it working, if it isn't dead."

"And if it is dead?" Kevin questions.

"Well we'll just have to find the reactor room and see if we can get this place up and running again." Jim looks up. "How'd the search for a replicator go?"

"Nothing, I can't find a single one." Kevin answers with a shake of head. "I find a canteen, again there was nothing there. The place was completely empty. Anyone would think this place is out of the twenty-second century!"

"Maybe this place just didn't have replicators. I doubt this place is quite that old." Jim mutters, as he pulls a backup battery out the back of the computer. "Well this is fried."

"We're never going to get off this planet." Kevin mutters, rubbing his stomach.

"We still have the reactor room to try," Jim points out. "If we can get this place working again, who knows what we'll find."

"This place is really starting to feel like Tarsus," Kevin shakes his head. "This feels just like that time we were going to Hoshi Sato's house and it was our last chance."

"Well let's hope it is like that then," Jim replies. "Because when we went to Hoshi Sato's house, we found exactly what we needed to in order to survive."

Before Kevin has a chance to answer, the sound of a reactor starting fills the air and seconds later the lights in the room flick on and the room's air conditioning starts, blowing dust out of the air vents and all the computer monitors around the room flick on causing Kevin jump and spin around in a wild motion.

"Please tell this place has an automatic timer or something," Kevin pleads, as he turns back to face Jim. "Because I highly doubt the reactor would just switch itself on otherwise."

Jim glances at Kevin before he turns back to the computer monitors, which he had been studying since they had switched on seconds before.

"This place doesn't have anything like that, Kev." Jim answers. "The reactor isn't automatic. It has to be switched on manually."

"That means-" Kevin begins.

"We're not alone." Jim cuts him off.

"I was going to say 'there's someone else here'," Kevin mutters. "But close enough."

"No! Kev, look!" Jim answers pointing to one of the monitors. "We're not alone."

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**Archer shifted in his seat, as JT stared at him from across the desk. **

**JT's stare was beginning to make him uncomfortable. It was almost like JT could see through him, into his very soul. It was like JT was trying to determine whether he was a threat or not and Archer didn't like that feeling of being studied in such a way.**

"**So what do you want from me?" JT asked, after a few minutes silence.**

**Archer almost sighed.**

"**Nothing you're not willing to give," Archer answered. "All I want to know is where you lived, before the events took place, James."**

"**Don't call me that!" JT snapped.**

"**Don't call you James?" Arched asked. "Why shouldn't I call you by your name?"**

"**Because if I could, I would change my name!" JT answered. "Everyone who has ever called me 'James', is dead, in prison or missing!"**

**Archer watched JT closely for a moment. **

"**Fine," Arched finally replied. "What would you like me to call you?"**

"**You can call me JT, if you want." JT muttered. "You can call me whatever you want, as long as its not 'James' or 'Boy' or 'Brat'!"**

**Archer nodded. "Fine then, JT it is… So JT, could you tell me where you lived before the events took place?"**

"**Why do you want to know?" JT asked, suspicion clear in his voice.**

"**Because the fire didn't destroy everything," Archer answered. "Some houses are still standing and undamaged. If where you lived is among them, I can send some men down to pick up any personal items that are still there."**

"**No." JT shook his head.**

"**JT," Archer began. "I know this is hard for you-"**

"**Shut up!" JT exclaimed, slamming his hands down on the desk. "You know nothing! You think this is hard for me! You. Know. Nothing! 'Hard' doesn't even begin to describe what this has been like! Don't claim to know anything about this, because you couldn't even possibly begin to comprehend what this has been like! Nobody can!"**

**Archer almost felt like backing away. **

**The pure anger in JT's eyes was enough to have Archer wishing he could hide under the table and wait for the storm that was JT, to pass. Never before had he seen such anger in a child's face, because that was what JT was, a child.**

**A thirteen year old boy who had been forced to grow up too fast and witnessed horrors most people couldn't even imagine in their deepest, darkest nightmares. **

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and sorry once again that it's taken me slightly longer than usual to update. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	44. Chapter 43

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter forty-three:

**Eleanor had woken up.**

**JT still couldn't believe it, but she really had woken up and was on her way to recovering. **

**She was still weak and sickly, but she'd recover and be completely healthy again in a month or two. And just as JT had said, she had been frightened when she first woke up, but had calmed down as soon as she saw JT sitting at her bed side, holding her hand.**

**T'Pol for some unknown reason, had taken great interest in Eleanor's reaction. She had said something about it being fascinating, before going off to the labs to do some research. Even Archer had no idea what had made her so interested in Eleanor's reaction, as far as he was concerned, JT was right.**

**Eleanor saw JT as her family.**

**So having JT at her side, was a great comfort and made her feel safe. Just like an older sibling would make a younger sibling feel, in the absence of their parents. Also from what Archer had heard, JT had been the one to save Eleanor after the massacre had taken place, so again there was going to be a bond between the two.**

**Also JT had been their leader, their protector. All of them shared a bond with him, some just seemed to be stronger than others. They all looked to JT when they were scared or didn't know what to do. When a nurse got to close to Connor or did something that upset or scared him, he'd hide behind JT.**

**They all clearly loved JT and the feeling was mutual.**

**Archer couldn't help but muse about how much like his father JT was. **

**For a boy who had never met his father, they shared a lot of traits, other than the same coloured eyes. Their behaviours were almost identical, the loyalty he showed to friends and self-sacrificing, almost suicidal need to protect and save those he cared about from harm… He was so much like his father and he didn't even know it.**

**Archer had no doubt that if it hadn't been for Tarsus IV and what the planet had done to JT, he could have grown up to be one of the best captains Starfleet ever would have known. They needed people like JT. People who were natural leaders, showed loyalty and would protect their crew, no matter what the cost. **

**But why would he join Starfleet now?**

**Why would he even consider it?**

**Starfleet had failed the people of Tarsus IV and most of them were now dead because of it. **

**JT had lost both of his parents to Starfleet and this, you could say, was the icing on the cake. Not to mention the fact, all of this had caused psychological damage which would mean JT would probably never be fit for command, even with counselling and therapy.**

**But it was just JT who was damaged, they all were.**

**Physical damage could be healed, but the mental injuries… They'd never heal.**

**They had seen things which would take years to come to terms with. Experienced things that nobody should ever have to endure. They had done things that given the choice, they'd never do in their entire lifetimes.**

**The universe has lost some truly brilliant people.**

**Archer has seen the records from the planet. **

**So many people who had so much potential to do truly amazing things, were now dead. **

**So many people who could have helped improve the federation were now dead. **

**Not to mention the people who could have helped improve the colony and in turn helped improve all earth colonies with their research and knowledge.**

**There wasn't a single person who didn't have something to offer the world and now they were all dead and those who remained were left to pick up the pieces the best they could. **

**The federation had lost more than it could ever know… So much potential just gone.**

**Even the schooling records he had on JT, Tom and Kev, the only ones old enough to have complete or almost complete records, were promising. **

**JT had tested straight out of school and his IQ was one of the highest Arched had ever encountered. **

**Tom had showed a great potential in science, biology and chemistry in particular, again with an IQ higher than most.**

**And Kev appeared to be a born natural in engineering. **

**All three were people Starfleet would have been interested in recruiting and now that would never happen.**

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"_We're not alone." Jim cuts him off._

"_I was going to say 'there's someone else here'," Kevin mutters. "But close enough."_

"_No! Kev, look!" Jim answers pointing to one of the monitors. "We're not alone." _

Chekov felt sick.

Spock and McCoy had come to the decision that all the command crew, the people Jim was closest too, should all see what Admiral Archer had sent them. They all knew it was breaking protocol, but they had to know what had happened to Jim.

So he, Sulu, Uhura, Scotty, Spock and McCoy had watched, listened to and read the reports Admiral Archer had sent them. They had waited until the following day, as there were far more reports than they had anticipated.

So first thing that morning they had all gone to Jim's ready room and gone through the reports Admiral Archer had sent them. It had taken quite a few hours and after hearing Jim's personal report of what had happened on Tarsus, Chekov wasn't sure he'd be able to sleep without having nightmares for weeks.

But he was also angry.

On a whole Chekov was quite a peaceful person, it wasn't often he wished harm on another. But if he ever got his hands of Kodos, he'd make him pay for what he had done to Jim. Nobody hurt his big brother and got away with it!

Because that was what Jim was to Chekov, a big brother.

Jim had taken Chekov under his wing from day one.

Chekov was by no means all naïve and innocent like so many people thought when they looked at him and Jim had never thought that, but sometimes there were things Chekov just didn't understand and when that happened Jim always stepped in and helped.

He had simply looked out Chekov in a way an older brother would and it had saved Chekov more than once, even when Jim had been forced to put himself at great personal risk to do so. Jim wasn't one to just stand by and do nothing when he could help.

A habit he seemed to have gotten from Tarsus IV, when he risked so much in order to keep nine others alive and if it had been anyone else in his place, they would never have done what Jim had done.

Because as sad as it was, it was a human's nature to act in their own best interests, rather than that of others, especially when the personal risks were so high.

To Chekov that was what made Jim the best captain in the fleet and Chekov wouldn't serve another.

But it troubled Chekov that Jim had never been able to talk to others about he had gone through. Talking always helped him when he had a problem and Jim had always listened, but knowing Jim had nobody to turn to saddened Chekov.

Starfleet had tried to stop the fallout that would have happened if the federation had known the truth about Tarsus, but by doing so, they had made the lives of the survives so much worse.

So Chekov promised himself that he'd always be there for Jim, no matter what.

Chekov glances up as Sulu sits down opposite him at the table he was currently sitting at, Sulu offers him a weak smile and Chekov nodes slightly, unable to return the gesture. He doubted he'd ever be able to smile again, if they found Jim dead at the hands of the monster known as Kodos the Executioner.

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"**It's going to be okay." A nurse told JT, as she finished changing the dressings on one of JT's more stubborn injuries and checked his vitals. "Just give it time and you'll be fine."**

**That was the final straw for JT.**

"**Get out!" He yelled at the nurse. "Just get out!"**

**The nurse jumped at JT's sudden outburst. **

"**You need to calm down." She quickly responded.**

"**Don't tell me to calm down!" JT snapped. "And don't tell me 'everything's going to be okay', or that 'I'm going to be okay' and to 'just give it time'!"**

"**James-" The nurse began, reaching for the panic button to call for help.**

"**Don't call me that!" JT yelled.**

**Dr Phlox appeared in the door way. "Is there a problem?"**

**The nurse nodded towards JT. "I need him to calm down."**

"**JT," Dr Phlox approached him. "What's wrong?"**

"**I want a different nurse." JT answered, glaring at nurse who was standing close to the door.**

"**Why?" Dr Phlox asked. "She's one of my best female nurses and you won't let any of the male nurses near you, so who do you suppose will treat you?"**

"**Anyone but her!" JT snapped. "Because I swear if she tells me 'it's going to be okay' or 'you're going to get better' or 'don't worry, you'll be fine in no time' one more time, I won't be responsible for my actions!"**

"**She's only-" Dr Phlox began.**

"**I. Do. Not. Care. What. She. Is. Trying. To. Do!" JT cut in speaking slowly and clearly. "I just don't want to hear it! It's not helping in slightest! I'm sick and tired of people telling me 'I'm going to be fine'! Because I have news for you, I'm never going to be 'fine' and anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot!"**

"**You injuries are healing nicely," Dr Phlox pointed out. "In a couple of days you'll be well enough to beam down to the planet's surface to see if any personal items can be recovered. You are healing."**

**JT threw his hands up in the air and falls back on the bed. "That's not what I mean!"**

**Dr Phlox sighed. "If I do not know what you mean, how can I help you?"**

"**Nobody can help me," JT replied, covering his eyes with arm to hide the tears which were suddenly welling up in his eyes. "Just leave me alone!"**

**Dr Phlox waves for the nurse to leave, before moving and standing beside JT. "I am the Chief Medical Officer of this ship, JT, there are very few things I have not seen or treated."**

"**Just go away." JT answered.**

"**Tell me what is wrong and I will help you." Dr Phlox promised.**

"**Go away!" JT snapped. "Just leave me alone, please!"**

**Dr Phlox signed again. "JT-"**

"**Just get out!" JT yelled. "Go away! I don't want you here!"**

"**It is my job as a doctor to treat any being in need of aid," Dr Phlox answered. "If you will not let any of the nurses near you, than the job falls to me. And I will not 'leave you alone' until I am sure I have done everything with in my power to make you better."**

**JT sat up and glared at Dr Phlox. "Fine, but I don't want to talk you. You've been too nice to me and don't deserve to be yelled at. And I won't speak to a shrink either, they're even worse than the nurses!" **

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. So sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up, I hit a case of writers block. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	45. Chapter 44

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter forty-four:

"**Dr Phlox said that you wanted to speak with me," Archer spoke, as JT sat down in the chair opposite him. "What's troubling you, JT?"**

"**I am sick and tired of people treating me like I'm made of glass!" JT answered. "I don't need everyone to act like I seconds away from breaking down! I don't want to feel the pitiful stares they give me when they think I can't see them! I just want to be treated like a normal human being! Is that too much to ask for?!"**

**Archer raised an eyebrow.**

**This was not what he had been expecting.**

**When Dr Phlox had informed him JT wanted to talk to him, he'd been expecting JT to yell at him and curse at him for Starfleet's failure, not complaining about his nursing staff.**

"**What happened, JT?" Archer asked. "What have my crew done wrong?"**

"**Most of your crew are fine," JT replied. "It's just the nurses I can't stand."**

**Archer sighed. "They are just doing their jobs, JT."**

"**No," JT snapped. "No, they're not!"**

"**Tell me then," Archer sat forward. "How are they failing in their duties?"**

"**They keep telling me everything going to be okay," JT answered. "That I'm going to be fine and it's all okay now. It's complete and utter bullshit!"**

**Archer stared at JT, slightly shocked at the language that had come out of his mouth. If archer had sworn like that at JT's age, his father would have had him over his knee in seconds!**

"**And how is it, as you put it 'bullshit'?" Archer questioned.**

"**Because their lying!" JT exclaimed. "I'm not just some child that they can just lie to! I know I'm never going to be okay! I know it's never going to be fine! Because no matter what happens, I'm never going to forget about this and happened here! It's always going to be there, in the back of my mind and haunting my dreams. I'm always going to be able to see the bodies when I close my eyes, hear the screams and feel the blood on my hands!"**

**JT paused for a moment. "I watched the people I loved die. I watched friends, neighbours and colleagues die. I watched people I used to say hello to in the street die. I watched the only place I've ever called home get destroyed and burned. I've lost everything. Everything I've ever cared about is gone. So it's never going to be okay, so please stop telling me it's going to be fine when it damn well isn't!"**

**Archer stared at JT. "You seem awfully excepting of what's happened, JT."**

**JT snorted bitterly. "I survived four months of being hunted like an animal. I've killed people. I've been tortured. I've nearly been killed on multiple occasions. I've watched people die. I've seen more death then you'll ever see in a life time. I had to make peace with it, because if I hadn't, I never would have survived."**

**Archer goes to speak, but JT cut him off.**

"**It's like a river," JT explains. "A raging current, an unstoppable force. Once you've fallen into that river, you can't get out. All you can do is swim in the hopes of keeping your head above the surface, because if you stop swimming, it'll consume you and you'll drown. The only way to survive is to keep swimming, to keep fighting against the current, in hopes someone will see you and throw you a life line."**

**JT paused once more.**

"**So that's what I did." JT finally spoke up again. "I kept swimming and I kept my head above the surface long enough to be saved."**

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_Chekov glances up as Sulu sits down opposite him at the table he was currently sitting at, Sulu offers him a weak smile and Chekov nodes slightly, unable to return the gesture. He doubted he'd ever be able to smile again, if they found Jim dead at the hands of the monster known as Kodos the Executioner._

Kevin stumbled over to a monitor.

"Kodos' men." Kevin exclaims wide eyed, glancing at Jim.

Jim glances from one monitor to another, so far three groups of men had appeared as well as the odd flash of movement just to the off side of the cameras range. For all Jim knew they could be a corridor away or on the other side of the building, was it safer to stay put or move?

"This whole place is like one massive film set." Jim suddenly realises, as he spots the room they had been trapped in, the low light recorder being used showing the skeletons and one dead body. "There are cameras everywhere, recording our every move. No doubt Kodos is sitting back relaxing somewhere watching us right now… He would have seen us escape and now we've got a chance of getting out of here alive, he's sent this men in to ensure we don't."

"So why did they switch the power on?" Kevin asks, as Jim quickly leads the way out from the room. "So they can find us better?"

"Maybe," Jim answers. "But right now it doesn't matter who or what caused the power to come on. All we need to worry about is keeping ahead of Kodos' men."

"Won't it be safer to lock ourselves in one room and wait it out?" Kevin questions.

Jim shakes his head. "If Kodos is watching our every move, he'll be able to direct his men to our location. If we're always moving, it'll be slightly harder to track us."

Jim grabs Kevin's arm and drags him down a hallway, as a door ahead of them begins to slide open. Breaking into a run as there are shouts behind them, they head towards a flight of stairs and run up them two steps at a time.

"How many entrances do you think this building has?" Jim asks as they run.

"Loads," Kevin answers. "Why?"

"There were no cameras outside," Jim explains. "If we can get outside, they won't be able to see us."

"But we don't know what's out there!" Kevin exclaims, as the two of them skid round a corner and begin running down another hallway.

"I'd rather take my chances with what's out there, than what our fate will be if we stay in here." Jim answers. "In here we have nowhere to hide. Out there we do."

"Can't you just hack into the system and take the cameras off line?" Kevin asks.

"That takes time, Kev, time we don't have." Jim answers.

They turn down another hallway only to find the door at the end of hallway broken and forced shut.

"Shit." Jim cursed.

Footsteps sound in the hallway behind them and Jim spins on his heels.

"Fuck," Jim curses again, as the group of Kodos' men who had been chasing them stop in front of them, with weapons raised and trained in them.

Kevin grips Jim arm and gulps. "So this is how it ends, huh JT?"

"On your knees." One of the men orders, waving his gun at them.

Slowly Jim and Kevin kneel down on the ground. Jim's hand edged towards the knife in his boot, but even if he could get it without being spotted, he doubted he could fight his way out of this one. Maybe he'd be fast enough to get Kevin out alive, but no himself… He was facing to many weapons. Maybe if they weren't armed, he could, hell he knew he could do it if they weren't armed, but they were and all that mattered now was getting Kevin out alive.

"It should have ended like this a long time ago." Jim mutters, glancing at Kevin. "Forgive me, Kev."

Jim's hand closed around the handle of his knife and he looked up at Kodos' men with a grin that promised pain and death. Kevin wasn't going to die today, but he just might and he was going to take as many of Kodos' men with him as he could.

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"**They're letting us go back down to the planet." JT informed Tom, as he sat down at the table beside him.**

"**What about the others?" Tom asked, glancing at JT.**

"**Our street survived," JT explained. "The building are still standing and are relatively undamaged… Everyone else's, burned or completely destroyed."**

"**So when are we going?" Tom questioned.**

"**Two days' time." JT answered.**

**Tom nodded. "I… I haven't been home since all of this started. Do you think it'll be the same? Do you think it'll be just like it was when I last saw it?"**

"**I don't know, Tom." JT muttered. "If you don't want to go, you don't have to."**

"**No," Tom shakes his head. "I want to go. It was my home."**

**JT smiled slightly. "Do you remember that time we were sitting on your bed watching that old horror holo-vid and you jumped when that monster jumped out on the main character and you knocked your head on the wall behind us and had to go to the doctors the following day?"**

"**I still can't believe my mum actually believed I hit my head on the wall in my sleep," Tom laughed. "Imagine the lecture we would have been put through if she had found out we were watching that movie."**

"**It would have been as bad as that time we got caught showing Kev that rated eighteen movie, or was it a fifteen? I can't remember." JT smiled at the memory.**

"**It might have even been a PG," Tom laughed. "You know what Kev's family were like."**

"**A part of me still refuses to believe they're dead," JT muttered his voice taking a solemn tone. "I saw their bodies and I still keep wanting them to walk through the door and yell 'surprise, we fooled you!' as revenge for all the pranks we pulled on them over the years."**

**Tears rolled down JT's cheeks as he stared at the table in front of him. "Every night I dream about them. Me and Lenore at Hoshi Sato's house, learning a new language, going home in the evening and aunt and uncle are there, dinner is ready and then you and your family come round to join us and Kev's family drop him off afterwards for a sleep over. I go to sleep and wake up in my room and for a couple of seconds I can make myself believe it was real and that in room across the hall are my aunt and uncle asleep and I switch the light on and it isn't my room… It's the guest quarters on deck three and everyone's dead."**

**JT rubbed his hands across his face, whipping away the tears. "I just want them back, but that's never going to happen. I'm an orphan now. You, Kev, the others… You're all I have left."**

"**The first night after we'd been beamed aboard, I cried until I had no tears left. One of the nurses had to give me a sedative, I was so distressed and distraught." Tom blinked against the tears in his eyes. "Now every night I cry until I fall asleep… Some nights I swear I can hear the lullabies my mother used to sing to me when I was sick or had a nightmare."**

**JT smiled weakly. "Maybe we're being haunted."**

"**If there's something strange in your neighbourhood…" Tom smiled through his tears.**

"**Who you gonna call?" JT carried on.**

"**GHOSTBUSTERS?" The two of them exclaimed together, laughing and crying.**

**Ghostbusters had been one of their favourite movies, it was old and it had terrible effects by modern day standards, but it was a classic and one of the last movies they had watched before their world was turned upside down. It had been the last movie they had all watched as a group, JT's family, Tom's family, Kev's family, Lenore and even Hoshi Sato… And now only JT, Tom and Kev remained.**

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	46. Chapter 45

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter forty-five:

**Tom and JT stood side by side on the transporter pad, as they waited for the security team they would be beaming back down to Tarsus IV with to join them. The two of them were about to return to their homes and both of them would be lying if they said they weren't nervous.**

**A couple of hours before them Captain Archer and First Officer T'Pol had beamed down in order to search the ruins of Hoshi Sato's house, to see if anything could be recovered or saved. Archer had offered JT the chance to go with them, but the ruins of that house was one place JT could never return to…**

**Hoshi had died there.**

**Lenore had died there.**

**The man who had given him the knife, which had saved his life more than once, had died there.**

**JT knew it was stupid. He'd seen more dead bodies almost everywhere else at the colony and he could go back there without a problem. He had entered the compound where his aunt and uncle had died along with so many others, he hadn't really wanted to, but he had done it and he could do it again.**

**Maybe it was his emotional attachment to Hoshi's house, it had been his second home in all but name. He had loved it there, it held some of his happiest memories and it was a place he found peace when he could go nowhere else. And when he had gone back there with Kev, in a last attempt at survival, in had been nothing but ruins.**

**JT almost smiled.**

**That house was just like his life. **

**In ruins. **

**And ruined beyond repair.**

**It could be rebuilt, but it would never be the same. **

**It would never be like what it had been before. It would always be different and never quite making up for what had been lost. A constant reminded of everything had been lost and how it could never be the same again.**

**What had he done to deserve this?**

**It was a question JT had asked himself often. What could he have possibly done to deserve everything that had been thrown his way? He had been born amongst destruction and death and nothing had changed over the years.**

**His life was endless cycle of violence, death and destruction.**

**With pain and suffering thrown in for good measure.**

**JT was snapped out of his musing as the security team stepped up on to the transporter pad beside him and Tom, the order to was given and seconds later they were back on the surface of Tarsus IV, standing in the middle of a street staring up at the buildings that had once been his and Tom's homes.**

"**I'd say it's good to be home…" Tom muttered, looking up at his house. "But I can't do this. I can't go back in to that place. I just can't!"**

**JT glanced at Tom and wasn't surprised to the tears in his eyes. "It's okay, Tom, I understand."**

"**You go, JT." Tom answered, when JT rested a hand on his shoulder. "I'll wait here. Don't waste this chance just because I can't do it."**

"**You sure?" JT questioned. "We can just go back to the ship, if you want."**

**Tom shook his head. "No. I know you JT, if you don't do this now, you'll never do it. You'll find some way of talking yourself out of it or convince yourself it's a bad idea. You have a way of never facing things until you have no other choice or until you want to deal with them… It's an interesting talent I'll admit." **

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_Jim's hand closed around the handle of his knife and he looked up at Kodos' men with a grin that promised pain and death. Kevin wasn't going to die today, but he just might and he was going to take as many of Kodos' men with him as he could. _

Sulu sighed as he sat back in his chair. He had tried to get some sleep, but he just couldn't relax. So he had decided to head down to the mess hall. Chekov had already been there, so he obviously wasn't the only one who couldn't find any peace.

How could you find peace when one of your closest friends was missing?

And that's what Jim was, missing.

Sulu refused to believe Jim was dead, which in turn meant Kevin Riley was still alive too. Jim would sooner die than let harm come to someone he cared about. It was one of the many reasons Jim was such a great captain, he always put the safety of his crew first and would only ever take risks when something far greater than the Enterprise was at risk, such as planet or the federation.

But most of all Sulu was frustrated.

He could do nothing but sit around doing nothing while Jim was in danger and quite possibly fighting for his life against a mad man and those who followed him. He wanted nothing more than to find Kodos and run him through with his sword, it was the least he deserved after all he had done and was continuing to do.

If what Jim had said in his report about what happened on Tarsus IV was true, which Sulu believed that it was (he had long ago learnt to stop doubting Jim, as he had proved himself to be right time and time again. It seemed he knew everything about anything and knew about things nobody else even knew existed!), then Kodos had massacred half a colony simply because he didn't like them!

Who did something like that and then pretended it was for the good of the colony? He should have just asked for help. As governor, he had a duty of care to the colony and he hadn't fulfilled his duties. He had abused his power and Sulu suddenly had a better understand of why Jim never seemed like authority figures.

Jim had survived hell and he couldn't even talk about it or tell people about it, thanks to Starfleet and their stupid attempt to keep the events of Tarsus IV hidden from the general public and Sulu couldn't help but wonder how Jim had successfully kept quiet. If it had been him in Jim's place, he would have wanted everyone to know the truth and would have made sure everyone knew the truth.

Sulu sighed again and sat forward resting his head in his hands. Maybe he should go and see Dr McCoy, he'd be no use in helping find Jim if he was too tried to see straight. Sulu glances up as Chekov shifts in the seat across from him, he gives him a small smile before getting to his feet. He nodes to Chekov and quickly leaves the mess hall.

"Mr Sulu." A voice stops him as he walks along the hallway.

Turning, Sulu watches as nurse Chapel hurry towards him. She smiles warmly in greeting as she draws level with him, it was a steep contrast to the strict no nonsense demeanour she had when working in the medical bay.

"Dr McCoy asked me to give you this," She explains holding out a hypo. "It's a mild sedative, it'll help you sleep."

"Thanks, Nurse Chapel." Sulu answers, taking the hypo.

"It's Christine," Chapel corrects with a smile. "We are both off duty, after all."

"Thanks, Christine." Sulu amends, with a smile of his own.

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**JT paused in the doorway to his room. Everything was covered in dust and the walls were damp, but apart from that it looked exactly the same as it had the morning he had last left it. Slowly he stepped into the room, a floor board creaked under his feet and JT glanced down.**

**The last time he'd been in this room, the floor had never made that sound, but it had been four months since he'd last set foot in the room and the house hadn't been cared for in that time. Who knew what exposure to the weather could have done.**

**There had been water stains all over the floors in the hallways and rooms as well as across the ceilings and walls, from where the roof had sprung a leak, no doubt caused by the freezing temperatures at night. The walls were covered in mould from where the walls were damp, so now the place just smelt like damp and not like home.**

**With shaking hands, JT began to look through his things. **

**Cloths he had worn before the massacre would no longer fit, even with the shortage of food he had grown a few inches and not to mention most of his cloths were almost crumbling and falling apart in his hands from where they were covered in mould from the damp.**

**He turned his attention to the book shelf he had above his bed. There wasn't much there and most certainly no books. He uncle had a collection of books, but due to how rare they were he kept them in storage where they couldn't be damaged. Which was a good thing, if they had been on JT's book shelf the damp and mould would have destroyed them.**

**Reaching up, JT pulled down his PADD and hit the on button, but the screen remained blank. Shrugging JT threw it down on the bed, it was either broken or the battery was dead. Next he pulled down the data cards he had collected over the years, he'd definitely be keeping them. Dropping them on the bed next to his PADD, be reached up again.**

**He pulled down an old fashioned three frame picture frame, which was foldable.**

**In the middle frame was a picture of him and his older brother Sam.**

**Smiling slightly, JT traced a figure over the picture of him and his brother. It had been the last picture taken of him and his brother together and had been a gift from his aunt and uncle on his first birthday on Tarsus. **

**The picture left of the middle, was a picture of him with his aunt and uncle, taken not long before his mother has died, so during his second year on the planet. And the picture to the right of the middle was him and Hoshi Sato, which had been taken a couple of months before the massacre.**

**Folding the frames up carefully, JT gently placed the picture frame on the bed and reached up and pulled a second picture frame down. It was a picture of him, Tom, Kev and Lenore, all pulling funny faces and laughing. JT shut his eyes and placed the picture frame down on the bed, as his hands began to shake even worse than before. **

**All he could see in his mind was Lenore dying, over and over again.**

**Suddenly the sounds of gunshots outside had JT ducking on instinct. He crouched down on the floor and reached for the weapon he always carried on his back, only to find it wasn't there. Of course it wasn't, Starfleet weren't going to let his carry around a loaded gun, or a 'projectile weapon' as T'Pol had called it.**

**After a minutes silence, JT slowly straightened up and moved over to the window. He pulled back the curtain and looked out, but the street appeared empty. Turning JT run across his room, being careful to avoid the creaking floor board, down the stairs and to the front door, all the while making sure he didn't make a sound.**

**Slowly pulling the door open, JT looked out.**

**The Starfleet officers and Tom were nowhere in sight and a sudden eerie silence had fallen over the place. Tensing and getting ready to run at a moment's notice, JT slowly made his way out of the house and that's when he saw them.**

**All the Starfleet officers were dead. All lying on the ground in a growing pool of blood. JT approached them, being careful not to step in the blood. Each had been killed with a single shot and by the looks of it, none had been given the chance to return fire.**

**It had been a massacre. **

**But there was no sign of Tom. JT looked around wildly in desperation, looking for any sign of Tom and whoever had taken him, but there was nothing. **

"**Tom!" JT yelled, hoping maybe, just maybe Tom would answer. **

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Sorry it's taken me longer than usual to update. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	47. Chapter 46

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter forty-six:

**T'Pol looked up from the screen at her station and her eyebrows drew together as she gave the Vulcan equivalent of frown. There were no life sign readings from the area the away team, plus JT and Tom had beamed down to. Coupled with the fact the away team had yet to make contact this hour, meant it didn't bode well for the away team. **

**Either the away team were dead or in situation which meant they were unable make contact or there was a mechanical fault aboard the ship, which was affecting the readings on the scanners and blocking any commutation from the planet below. **

"**Captain," T'Pol approached Archer before stopping beside him. "The away team have not made there hourly contact. Scans of the planet's surface also show no life signs in the area they beamed down to. Permission to beam down with a security team, Captain?"**

"**Permission granted, Commander." Archer answered, a hint of worry in his voice.**

**T'Pol inclined her head and quickly headed towards the turbo lift.**

"**Permission to join the Commander?" Mayweather asked from behind her.**

**Archer paused thinking for a moment before nodding his head. "Permission granted, Lieutenant."**

"**Lieutenant." T'Pol greeted, as Mayweather stepped into the turbo lift beside her.**

"**Commander." Mayweather returned, as the doors to the turbo lift closed and the lift began it's decent.**

**The short journey in the turbo lift was silent and tense. The silence was normal, as T'Pol wasn't a fan of turbo lift small talk. But the tenseness was not as common, least not on T'Pol's part. She wouldn't admit to it but she was highly worried about JT. **

**The more research she had been doing about JT, the more intrigued by him she had become… It was slowly becoming a Vulcan form of motherly affection, caused by the primitive instinct to protect the young.**

**Mayweather on the other hand and been bounding with JT and Tom on their shared love of rock climbing. JT was definitely the more keen rock climber of two, but both shared an interest in it. It wasn't often that Mayweather came across others who liked rock climbing quite as much as he did and never before had anyone shown as much passion for it as JT had.**

**And from the sounds of it, JT was also a skilled climber despite his young age. Tom was always telling him stories about JT's abilities while JT wasn't around to shut him up. It seemed JT was almost shy when it came to admitting he was good at something. He always seemed to want to divert the attention away from him or try and explain how he would never have been such a good climber if Tom hadn't taught him.**

**Mayweather couldn't help but wonder about that. Everyone Mayweather had ever met would just accept the praise, most enjoyed it and it never failed to cheer someone up when their work or something they had done was praised. **

**But JT didn't seem to like it… It was almost like he couldn't believe anything he had done was good and worthy of the attention.**

**What short of childhood had JT had, in order to make him believe nothing he did was worthy of reward or praise? How had a child come to believe so little of himself, that even though he had saved the lives of eight other in a hostile and deadly situation, he still didn't believe himself a hero? **

XxX

"_Thanks, Nurse Chapel." Sulu answers, taking the hypo._

"_It's Christine," Chapel corrects with a smile. "We are both off duty, after all."_

"_Thanks, Christine." Sulu amends, with a smile of his own._

Jim took a deep breath and lunged forward as he sprung to his feet, wielding the knife with a skill that had come from years of training and an accuracy which only came from experience. He took the first man out easily, the knife cutting through flesh like a knife through butter.

The second, was just as easy.

His knife passed through the weak spot in their padded uniform and a spray of blood shot through the air. Blood run down the walls, while a puddle of blood began to form on the floor around the fallen men.

The third took a swing at him, unable to use their rifle at such close proximity. Jim simply ducked under it and lashed out with his knife. Each strike meet its mark with deadly accuracy and a trail of blood in its wake.

But the fourth had a weapon similar to an old earth hand gun and managed to fire a single shot before Kevin tacked them to the ground and knocked the weapon from their hand. Kevin quickly knocked the man out and prepared himself to face any others who came his way.

Jim turned to the fifth and twirled the knife in his hand as he prepared himself for the attack, but before he could even begin his attack, the man before him fell to the floor. There was a large burning hole in their back and the smell of scorched flesh filled the air.

Jim looked up in surprise, to find another one of Kodos' men standing there holding a laser rifle, similar in style to the ones they used aboard the Enterprise. Slowly they lower there weapon and Jim notices the other members of the group were scattered around floor, smoke rising from their backs.

No doubt they had been taken down while Jim was busy taking out the first three and Kevin had taken out the fourth.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you." They announce, reaching up and pulling off their mask.

"Martha!" Jim exclaims in shocked surprise.

Martha smiles at Jim. "Hello, Jim."

Kevin quickly gets to his feet and stands beside Jim, before looking between Jim and Martha in confusion.

"Kev, this Martha Leighton, Tom's wid-wife." Jim explains, catching Kev's confused look. "Martha, this is Kevin Riley."

Kevin had never meet Tom's wife in person. He had heard her name in passing and once spoken over a comm, but it was only a sentence or two and they exchanged season's greetings and birthday wishes through typed messages.

Where Tom and Kev hadn't been in contact with each other since after Tarsus and once they had got in contact after Jim had recruited Kevin as part of the Enterprise crew, they had never really gotten the chance to meet in person as the Enterprise had started its five year mission.

Martha beams at Kevin. "It's good to finally meet you face to face, Kevin."

"Likewise, Martha." Kevin answers with a slight smile.

"Right," Martha turns back to Jim. "We need to get out of here. I have a ship waiting for us not far from here."

Jim smiles slightly. "Brilliant, let's move. I don't think it'll be long before more of Kodos' men get here."

Jim takes a step forward and a sharp pain shoots up his side and he doubles over clutching a hand to his abdomen. A warm liquid quickly spreads across his hand and Jim doesn't even have to look at his hand to know what it is.

"JT!" Kevin exclaims reaching forward and gripping his shoulder. "What's wrong? What's happened?"

"I got shot." Jim answers panting slightly as a second spike of pain shots up his side. "I should have known that shot didn't go wide… The ship that's waiting for us… Does it have a medical bay?"

Martha shakes her head. "No. But there is an advanced medical kit on board."

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Kevin exclaims, helping Jim straighten up and supporting him as Jim groans and looks down at his blood covered hand and blood stained top. It looked worse than it was, but if Jim didn't get medical attention soon, it would be as bad as it looked.

XxX

**JT grabbed one of the dead Starfleet officers weapons and turned in a full circle, carefully studying the ground around him, looking for any clue as to which direction Tom could have been taken in. But the street held no clues and the solid ground left no tracks. JT knew for a fact it couldn't and wouldn't have been Tom who killed the officers and made a run for it…**

**JT shook his head. **

**What a fool he had been when he believed Archer, who had told him all of Kodos' men had been taken care of. Most were apparently on their way back to earth to stand trial for their crimes, whilst those who weren't had died whilst trying to avoid capture. Who else could have taken Tom? It had to be Kodos' men. Nobody else wanted them dead… Well least nobody JT knew of. **

**Which meant Tom was in the hands of the people who had been given orders to kill him. **

**JT might already be too late to save his life. **

**Tom could already be dead. **

**And JT didn't have much time to find out if that was true or not. No doubt the officers who were now dead, were required to stay in contact with the ship. So JT didn't have much time, he'd be beamed straight back to the ship as soon as they found out about what happened.**

**Shutting his eyes, JT tried to concentrate and push back the rising panic and fear. If he was one of Kodos' men, where would he go to carry out an execution away from Starfleet and any prying eyes? **

**JT's eyes snapped open. **

**The answer was obvious. **

**The only place they could go was the mountains and JT didn't hesitate, he just started running. **

**He had run this route hundreds of times before, fleeing the colony and Kodos' men. He knew where he was going and what the quickest way to go was and he was going to use that to his advantage. **

**The men who had taken Tom wouldn't be as familiar with the mountains and how to get there as he was. That knowledge hadn't been vital to their survival, but it had been to JT's. A part of JT knew this could also be a trap, but there was also a chance it wasn't. **

**For all they knew it could have been Tom alone who had beamed down to the planet with the officers. Because if they had known he was in the house, why hadn't taken him too? And why hadn't they killed Tom on the spot? **

**Again the answer was obvious.**

**They were going to use Tom as bait.**

**JT jumped a small ditch and glanced over his shoulder for a second. The colony was fading further and further into the distance, soon it would be out of sight completely and the mountains ahead of him were slowly looming closer and closer. **

**It felt like ever muscle in his body was on fire. **

**He may have run this route hundreds of times before, but he had never run it at this breakneck speed. The only thing that helped make up for it was the fact this time he wasn't running on a half empty stomach. Since he had been saved, he hadn't been short of food and his body wasn't nearly as skinny as it had once been.**

**JT collapsed to his knees at the foot of the mountains, panting and struggling to breathe as his muscles burned and sweat rolled off his body and soaked into his cloths. He quickly crawled to the river that had been the only source of water in the mountains and drunk as much as he could between breathes.**

**Once his breathing was back under control and the burning in his muscles had faded to a dull ache, JT got to his feet and readied the weapon in his hands. He still had his knife hidden in his boot, he was going to keep that hidden for now and use it as a last resort. **

**A strangled yell echoed from deeper in the mountains and JT narrowed his eyes.**

**He was going to make them pay. **

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Happy holidays everyone. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	48. Chapter 47

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter forty-seven:

**It didn't take JT long to track down where the scream had come from, after all he knew the mountains like the back of his hand. In the four months he and the others had spent hiding in the mountains, they had been forced to move thirty-seven times and each time they had been forced deeper and deeper into the mountains to avoid being found.**

**JT knew every cliff, every rock face, every cave and every nook and cranny in the mountains. He doubted anyone knew the mountains better than he did, even a map couldn't show the details he knew about the mountains. He knew everything there was to possibly know. He and the others wouldn't have survived if he hadn't.**

**And so JT slowly made his way closer to the edge of the ledge he was on, keeping low to the ground and readying his weapon. As he made it to the edge of the ledge, he looked down at the scene before him and a burning rage filled him.**

**On the ground below him Tom was lying on the ground a pool of blood surrounding his head, it was JT's guess that he'd been shot in the head. Around him stood seven men, all dressed in the uniforms JT had come to fear the sight of ever since the massacre. And by the looks of it, he was too late.**

**Tom wasn't moving.**

**JT knew not all head shots were fatal, it all depended on where you were shot and how long you went without treatment. It also depended on what type of weapon was used and from what JT could see, they hadn't used a shot gun or any other type of weapon they usually used. But Tom wasn't moving so it didn't matter.**

**He was dead and there was no coming back from that.**

**Quickly JT worked out a plan of attack. There were seven men before him and he was going to kill every one of them for what they did to Tom. Slowly he reached down and pulled the knife from his boot and once he had it before him, he took aim with the weapon he had taken from the Starfleet officer once more.**

**He was only going to kill them all for killing Tom and he was going to kill them for what they had done to the Starfleet officers also. They had all been killed in cold blood. JT quickly identified what weapons each of the men carried. There were quite a few weapons visible and JT knew there would be quite a few if not more which were hidden from sight too.**

**From what he could see, three of the seven men only carried long range weapons, whilst the others carried short range weapons, but two had their backs to him, so he could only see the weapons they had attached their belts. For all he knew they could be carrying long range weapons which were out of view in front of them.**

**JT quickly adjusted his aim.**

**He was going to take the men who had short range weapons out first. That way he could jump down from the ledge and take out the others without the risk of getting shot… Well a reduced risk of getting shot, long range weapons were harder to use at close range and JT intended on getting very close.**

**Of course if he didn't move fast enough, he would get shot whilst still on the ledge. The moment he shot the first of Kodos' men, he was going to give away his position. So, he was going to have to move very fast and shot with an accuracy only seasoned shooters had. His uncle had taught him well, but not that well.**

**JT took a deep breath and shut his eyes for a second and when he opened them all hell broke loose. **

XxX

_Jim took a deep breath and lunged forward as he sprung to his feet, wielding the knife with a skill that had come from years of training and an accuracy which only came from experience. He took the first man out easily, the knife cutting through flesh like a knife through butter. _

Scotty fixed the PADD in front of him for the hundredth time.

He hadn't slept very well the night before, as every time he shut his eyes his dreams were haunted by Jim and Kevin. Both had been covered in blood and pleading with him. _Why didn't you save us? We thought you were our friend. Why did you let us die? Why didn't you save us?_ Was all they kept saying and every time Scotty tried to reach for them, they'd disappear in to the darkness and their dying screams would surround him until he woke gasping and panting.

Not long after that Nurse Chapel had arrived at his quarters with a sedative from Dr McCoy. It had helped stop the dreams, but his sleep had still be far from peaceful. Both Jim and Kevin were two of Scotty's closest friends and two of the best engineers Scotty had ever encountered.

The Enterprise just wouldn't be the same without them.

And so Scotty broke the PADD into a million different pieces once more and began putting back together. Repeating this process over and over again helped calm him, the familiar movements helped stop the shaking in his hands, as he wanted nothing more than to drown his sorrows in the bottle of old whiskey he had hidden in his quarters.

As fixed the final piece of the broken PADD back into place, a hand landed on his shoulder gently and Scotty jumped from his seat cursing. He spun round and came face to face with Gaila.

"Jesus Christ, lass! Ye a'maist gave me a heart attack!" Scotty exclaims.

Gaila looked slight sheepish as she offers Scotty a warm smile. "Sorry, sir. I did call you."

"Whit dae ya want, lass?" Scotty asks.

"Jim." She answers automatically without really thinking about it and once she realises what she said she blushes.

Scotty raises an eyebrow slightly. "Aye, we a' want him back lass."

Gaila smiles with embarrassment and relief. Scotty hadn't interpreted her answer the way she had meant it. Last night she should have been having dinner with Jim in his quarters, like they did whenever they had a free moment to do so and it usually ended in other activities which lead to Gaila spending the night… She could still remember the first time Yeomen Rand had found them.

For a reason only Gaila and McCoy knew about, Jim was resident to the pheromones Gaila's body produced. It was part of the reason Gaila and Jim had been so close at the academy and that was where their current relationship had bloomed from. By most people's standards their relationship was complicated, but it worked for them and that was all that mattered.

"Sir," Gaila speaks up, as Scotty's attention turns back to the PADD he had been fixing and destroying all morning. "I was assigned to take over Lieutenant Riley's duties before he and the Captain disappeared. While I was working at his station, I replicated a cup of coffee. It didn't taste right, so I checked the circuits. Someone had messed with it and reprogrammed it. I know Kevin, I mean Lieutenant Riley, was poisoned. And I also know Brown, she wouldn't have been able to reprogram it like that."

"Whit dae ye mean, lass?" Scotty asks.

"Brown wasn't working alone." Gaila answers.

Scotty frowns slightly. That would mean even if they did find Jim and Kevin, they wouldn't be saving them, they'd just be taking them from one trap and placing them in another.

"Ah hae tae speak tae th' Commander," Scotty quickly informs Gaila and quickly turns to leave engineering, but not before spotting Keenser atop some machinery.

"Git down from thare!" Scotty voice echoes, making all the officers on duty in engineering breathe a slight sigh of relief. Scotty was back to normal.

XxX

**JT dropped to his knees beside Tom. Tears run down from his eyes as he lent forward and rested his head against Tom's still chest. He couldn't help but feel like this was his fault. If he hadn't gone back to his old house while Tom waited outside with the Starfleet officers, they would have been back on the ship and perfectly safe.**

**But they hadn't done that. JT had been selfish and as a result Tom was now dead. A part of JT knew he hadn't been selfish when he had gone back to his old home, Tom had all but talked him out of going back to the ship… He just couldn't shake the guilty feeling though.**

"**Tom…" JT choked out. "I'm so sorry… I wasn't in time… I should have saved you."**

**More tears rolled down from JT's eyes and just as he was about to sit back he felt it. A slight rise and fall of Tom's chest. At first JT thought he had imagined it, but after a few seconds he felt it again.**

"**Tom!" JT exclaimed, sitting back and staring at Tom in shock for a moment.**

**Tom was alive.**

**As fast as humanly possible JT stripped off his top and pressed it to the wound that covered half Tom's face. The material was quickly soaked through with blood and all JT could do was sit there and curse himself for not stealing one of the dead officers communicators. If Tom didn't get medical attention soon, he would die.**

"**I've found them!" A voice behind JT yelled.**

**And suddenly there was a Starfleet officer on their knees beside him and yelling into their communicator for an emergency beam up, directly to the medical bay. More officers approached but JT didn't hear them, all he could hear was his heart beat thundering in his ears and a matter of seconds later he was back on the ship and being pulled away from Tom as medical staff rushed him into surgery.**

**JT collapsed to his knees and stared at his blood covered hands. **

**If Tom died it would be his fault.**

**How hadn't he worked out Tom was still alive sooner? How much had that delay cost Tom? How much extra time could he have bought Tom, if he had applied pressure to the wound quicker? How could he have been as stupid as to not steal a communicator alongside the weapon he had taken? Had his own stupidity cost Tom his life?**

"**JT?" A voice asked softly.**

**JT turned his head to find a junior doctor standing there. She had her hands held up showing she meant no harm.**

"**What do you want?" JT demanded, trying to keep his voice even and failing.**

**The junior doctor smiled softly and much to JT's relief there was no pity in her eyes. "I was just wondering if you would like me to help you get cleaned up. And some clean cloths perhaps?"**

**JT stared at his hands once more. **

"**Okay." JT answered after a moment.**

**The junior doctor nodded. "Please follow me."**

**Slowly JT got to his feet and followed her as she lead the way from the main area of the medical bay, to a private room with its own shower. Once JT had stepped into the bathroom, she quickly disappeared to find him a clean set of cloths and a promise that she'd be back by the time he got out the shower.**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. I hope nobody mind's Gaila being alive in this story. It was never actually said she died in the first movie plus I love the Jim/Gaila pairing. Happy New Year everyone. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	49. Chapter 48

Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.

Chapter forty-eight:

**T'Pol approached the ground where Tom and JT had been only moments before. The ground was stained red with blood and if T'Pol had believed in miracles, she would have declared Tom still being alive when he was beamed up, one. **

**There was so much blood on the ground, but not all of it belonged to Tom.**

**On the ground around the small clearing were the bodies of seven men, all wearing uniforms that Kodos' men wore. From what T'Pol could see, three of the men had been shot. Each of the three had a single bullet wound to the head. Blood, brain matter and bone fragments littered the ground around their bodies.**

**Three others had knife wounds. **

**One had a slit throat, blood pooled around their body and there was no questioning their cause of death. **

**A second had a knife wound to the chest and dried blood leaving a trail down the side of their face from where it had run from their mouth. **

**And the third had a bloody and fatal wound to the midsection. Their body had been sliced open from hip to hip and parts of their body which were not meant to see the light of day, could be seen through their torn uniform.**

**But the final person… **

**If T'Pol had been anything less than Vulcan, she would have thrown up. **

**The person's skull had been cracked open with a rock. The blood covered rock rested a couple of feet away from the body, the blood glistened on its surface as the sun's light hit it. It was a truly gory sight.**

**There was only one person who could have done this and that was JT.**

**T'Pol knew humans were capable of many things, but her logical mind was having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that this was the work of a thirteen year old boy. And if T'Pol hadn't known better, she would have believed this was the work of a seasoned killer. **

**Each shot had been dead on its target and each knife strike had been deadly accurate.**

"**One to beam up." T'Pol ordered, as she flipped her communicator open.**

**Seconds later she was back on the ship, after her request had been acknowledged. She nodded to the Lieutenant operating the transporter before leaving the transporter room and heading towards the ship's medical bay. **

**She needed to speak to JT.**

**As T'Pol entered the medical bay, she couldn't help but notice how silent it was. It was just as busy at it usually was, but it seemed to be missing its usual atmosphere. It was almost uncomfortable. Without wasting any more time, T'Pol headed towards the room JT was usually found whenever Dr Phlox checked him over.**

**JT and the other, minus Eleanor who still required treatment, had been moved to the guest quarters aboard the ship. At first JT hadn't wanted to leave Eleanor, but when Dr Phlox promised he could visit Eleanor whenever he wanted, he had finally agreed. Unsurprisingly all eight of them shared a room, having refused to separated.**

**T'Pol frowned slightly, as she found the room empty. From what she had seen, JT hadn't been injured, so he wouldn't be receiving medical treatment elsewhere and she doubted he would have been thrown in the brig, even though he had killed seven people.**

"**If you're looking for JT, he's in the room over there." A passing nurse nodded towards a room across the medical bay.**

**T'Pol inclined her head in response and made her way over to the room. Inside the room a junior doctor stood beside the bed off to one side of the room, in her hands was a pile of fresh cloths. She looked up as T'Pol entered the room.**

"**He's in the shower." The junior doctor informed her.**

**T'Pol could hear the shower running, but she would also hear no one was standing under the flow of water.**

"**You can leave," T'Pol told the junior doctor. "I will attend to JT."**

**The junior doctor hesitated for a moment before nodding and leaving the room, but not before placing the clean cloths down on the bed.**

XxX

"_Ah hae tae speak tae th' Commander," Scotty quickly informs Gaila and quickly turns to leave engineering, but not before spotting Keenser atop some machinery._

"_Git down from thare!" Scotty voice echoes, making all the officers on duty in engineering breathe a slight sigh of relief. Scotty was back to normal._

Martha walked slightly ahead of Jim and Kevin, leading the way out of the building and towards the ship which was waiting for them. Kevin kept giving Jim worried glances, as he supported him. Every movement Jim made caused him more pain. Jim winces slightly as he readjusted the scarf Martha had given him to keep pressed to his wound and his grip on Kevin tightened.

"So how did you find us?" Jim questions Martha, hoping to distract himself from the pain.

"Before Tom disappeared, he made a list of all the planets he knew Kodos had connections to," Martha explains. "I simply looked at the list and tried to work out which one would be the least likely to be searched by Starfleet. When you and Kevin disappeared, Kodos would have known Starfleet would search for you. It also helped that this planet was broadcasting a signal, which could be picked up in the next quadrant!"

Jim winces as he applies more pressure to his wound. "So how many planets did you check before you checked this one?"

"Four," Martha answers.

"Only four?" Jim questions, his grip on Kevin tightening as another wave of pain hit him.

"Yes, only four," Martha replies. "Most of the planets Kodos has connections to are highly populated and deep within Federation territory."

"Makes sense." Jim mutters, with a pained voice.

"How does that make sense?" Kevin asks, confused.

"They say the best place to hide is in plain sight," Jim answers, gasping slightly as the pain got worse. "So going on that theory, it makes perfect sense that Kodos has been under the Federation's nose this entire time."

"It also helps that everyone believes he's dead." Martha adds, giving Jim a worried look. "What reason would the Federation have to look for a dead man?"

Kevin frowns. "So how many planets did Tom know Kodos has connections to?"

"Forty-two," Martha replies, glancing over her shoulder at the building they had left.

"Forty-two?!" Kevin exclaims, as he subconsciously pulls Jim closer to him. "You've got to be joking!"

Martha shakes her head. "I'm not. Many of the planets are mining planets. My guess would be that's where Kodos is getting the funds he needs."

"What does he need the funds for?" Kevin questions. "Other than paying people to try and kill us I mean."

"Cloning." Martha answers with a slight shudder.

"But that's illegal." Kevin mutters.

"So is murdering people," Jim answers, with a slightly pained smile. "But that didn't stop him from nearly wiping out an entire planet!"

Martha snorts out a laugh and Kevin glares at Jim for a moment.

"That's not what I meant, JT," Kevin replies. "It's cloning is almost impossible to do, it's that illegal."

"From what I can tell about six of the planets Kodos has connections to, are home to offices he owns. He has entire companies set up under fake names," Martha quickly cuts in before Jim could answer. "If it hadn't been for the fact I know who he really is and what he's capable of, it would look innocent enough. But the setup of it has been done so it's like he has his own surveillance agency. Each planet is in the perfect position and each office is in the perfect area to keep an eye on Starfleet.

"Thirteen others planets are home to privately owned military bases, all of which belong to him and are capable of firing missiles. Twenty-three are mining planets, where he owns the mines or has shares in them. He got a lot of money to his name and the ability to wipe out entire planets… Oh and one other thing. From the information Tom gathered, there are people working for him in Starfleet and at least two of them are aboard the Enterprise."

"There's nothing like rubbing salt in a wound," Jim mutters. "He's set this up to make Starfleet look stupid and that begs the question why. What's he going to do after we're dead?"

XxX

**JT sat with his back to the wall of the shower. The shower was running but the water was only hitting the ground in front of him and vanishing down the drain. JT was still fully clothed and soaked through from when he first switched the shower on.**

**His hands were still covered in blood and JT just couldn't stop staring at them. The blood didn't only belong to Tom, but the men he had killed too. His mind just kept replaying the moment he had killed them over and over again. **

**He could still hear the noise the man had made when he sliced his throat.**

**Suddenly the bathroom door opened and T'Pol stepped into the room. She quickly made her way over to the shower and shut off the water. JT didn't even bother to look up at T'Pol, he just carried on staring at his hands.**

**T'Pol stared at JT for a couple of moments before turning away and walking over to the sink. She quickly filled the bowl, which rested on the side beside the sink, with water and picked up a white towel, before heading back over to where JT was still sat in the shower cubical.**

**She placed the bowl of water on the floor before kneeling down on the cubical floor in front of JT and soaking the towel in the bowl. She slowly and gently took one of JT's hands in her own and began washing the blood from his hands. **

**She skilfully kept JT's thoughts blocked from her mind and her own emotions in check, as she could feel the raging emotions which were flowing from JT in waves. Once the first hand was clean, she began cleaning the second. **

**By the time she was finished the white towel was stained a dark pink and the water in the bowel was red.**

**But still JT just kept staring at his hands. **

**T'Pol picked up the bowl and towel and got to her feet. She quickly washed away the blood and water and dumped the towel in the disposal chute. When she turned back to JT, he still hadn't moved.**

**Walking back over, T'Pol knelt in front of JT once more and reached out and took one of his hands in her own. Letting down her mental shields, she was almost unprepared for the onslaught that hit her. **

**JT was reliving the same moment over and over again in his head. He was trapped in a memory and it wasn't a good one.**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	50. Chapter 49

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Forty-nine:

**When T'Pol had gently placed her fingers on Jim's meld points and entered his mind in order to try and break him out of the memory he was trapped in, she hadn't expected his mind to be what she found herself drawn into.**

**His mind was nothing like anything she had ever encountered before. His mind was so bright and colourful, yet parts of his mind were dark and hidden in shadows, no doubt from his time on Tarsus IV. **

**Those memories were always going to be tinted.**

**The colour and brightness, as well as the shadows and darkness of his mind radiated intelligence, knowledge, cunning and determination. His mind was beautiful. And much to T'Pol pleasure, she could sense what she had suspected ever since JT had beamed aboard was correct. But now was not the time to feel pleased over her correct theory.**

**She had to break JT out of the memory he was trapped in and if she didn't the consequences wouldn't lead to a good outcome. The memory JT was reliving over and over again was linked to such strong emotions, the force of them over a prolonged period of time would damage his mind. T'Pol knew he needed a mind healer, but they were too far from Vulcan and by the time a mind healer reached them, to would be too late.**

**It didn't take long to find the memory she was looking for and as her mind reached for it, the whirlwind of colours, brightness and shadows that was JT's mind disappeared from around her and she found herself standing in a yard in front of an old farm house.**

"**What are you doing here?" A defensive but curious voice behind her asked.**

**Slowly T'Pol turned round and found herself face to face with none other than JT. She arched an eyebrow and studied the young teenager before her. **

"**Most curious." She muttered.**

**JT frowned at her. "What?"**

"**Do you know where we are?" T'Pol questioned, curious to see if JT knew what he was doing or not.**

**JT glanced round. "Yeah. This is Iowa."**

**T'Pol nodded slightly. She had visited earth many times but never once had she visited Iowa or anything like it. It was completely different to anywhere else on earth she had been before. Even now in JT's mind, the variations of the Earths habitats surprised her. No matter where she went on Vulcan, it was hot and nothing but desert, unless she were near the rocky and mountain terrains.**

**In many ways Vulcan was like Mars, one of Earths closest neighbours, just less hostile and unforgiving than Mars. Glancing round all T'Pol could see was farmland and dusty dirt roads, which vanished into the distance.**

"**I live here," JT carried on talking waving to the farm house behind him. "Just glad Frank isn't around anymore."**

"**JT," T'Pol asked cautiously. "Where do you think we are?"**

"**Iowa," JT answered, frowning again. "What are you doing here? I mean it's good to see you again, but why aren't you off on a ship somewhere? You still work for Starfleet, right?"**

**T'Pol raised an eyebrow. JT though he was in Iowa and if T'Pol didn't know she was still inside JT's head, she could have believed it too. The landscape around them looked so stunningly real. There was so much detail. The sights and sounds, the smells and feel of the air was so believable, it was almost like T'Pol was standing in the middle of a yard in front of a farmhouse in rural Iowa.**

"**JT…" T'Pol began slowly, unsure how JT would react to the truth as he had obviously created this place as a coping mechanism. "We are not in Iowa."**

**JT laughed. "Since when do Vulcan's have a sense of humours? Be it quite a weird one."**

"**Vulcan's do not joke," T'Pol answered. "Nor do we lie. We are not in Iowa."**

"**Then where the hell are we?" JT demanded. "Because this looks like Iowa to me!"**

"**Currently, we are inside your mind." T'Pol replied. **

XxX

_"Thirteen others planets are home to privately owned military bases, all of which belong to him and are capable of firing missiles. Twenty-three are mining planets, where he owns the mines or has shares in them. He got a lot of money to his name and the ability to wipe out entire planets… Oh and one other thing. From the information Tom gathered, there are people working for him in Starfleet and at least two of them are aboard the Enterprise."_

_"There's nothing like rubbing salt in a wound," Jim mutters. "He's set this up to make Starfleet look stupid and that begs the question why. What's he going to do after we're dead?"_

Uhura sat on the edge of the bed in her and Spock's shared quarters. Unlike Spock's quarters next to the Captain's, the room had a more human feel to it. The room in fact had been Uhura's and still was, it had turned into shared when it became clear they didn't want to lose each other.

It had been triggered by Jim's death after the incident with Khan. Spock and Uhura had both realised how much the other meant to them and Jim's death had proved how anything could happen and how they shouldn't take what they had for granted.

It only took a couple of seconds for it to all disappear.

For it to be all taken from them.

So as Uhura watches Spock meditate from her spot on the bed, she can't help but think about Jim. Never in all the time she had known Jim, would she have ever guessed he was one of the few people who survived Tarsus IV. He seemed so… Normal, for lack of a better word. She expected a survivor to be fearful, not fearless.

She expected them to be weak.

But she didn't mean that in a bad way. She meant it in a way, where they had seen so much and been through so much, it left them scared and damaged beyond repair. The psychological damage and trauma they had suffered would leave anyone weak. And yet she knew while at the academy, Jim often got insulted on a daily basis and not a month would go by when he didn't get into a fight.

Jim was anything but weak.

He was the strongest person she knew and that made it nearly impossible for her to imagine Jim surviving something like Tarsus IV. In her mind he didn't appear damaged enough. He didn't show the scars that someone who had survived something like that should have. From what she knew of Kevin, neither did he.

It still upset her though.

Why hadn't Jim trusted them? He had, at one point or another, broken every rule in the book, so why didn't he break this one? They had a right to know. They were his friends and they were his crew.

Maybe he just didn't trust.

Which in a way made Uhura angry. She had trusted Jim with things she had never told another living soul about. There were something's Jim knew that she hadn't even told Spock. And Spock was her boyfriend!

But even the anger wasn't enough to push back the other emotions she was feeling. And guilt was the strongest. How many time at the academy had she called Jim a lowlife coward or a selfish bastard who only thought about himself?

After how they meet, Uhura had never bothered to look past Jim's reputation and the first impression he had given her… Over their years at the academy together, their relationship had turned more civil. But that was only after Uhura found out Jim only flirted with her because he thought it was fun, not because he wanted to get a leg-over and add her to his list of conquests.

Uhura shut her eyes.

Guilt and sadness was all she felt now, even the anger had subsided. She couldn't even bring herself to feel horrified. How much damage could her words have caused? How much damage had her determination to knock Jim down a peg or two caused? What had hers and everyone else's ignorance done to him?

After all Uhura knew words hurt far more than open wounds ever could, especially when they hit so close to home.

XxX

**JT return to a normal conscious state with a start as T'Pol moved back and lowered her hand. It took JT a couple of seconds to get his breathing under control. Once his breathing had returned to a normal rate, he looked up at T'Pol.**

"**Thanks." He finally managed to mutter.**

"**You are welcome, JT." T'Pol answered, inclining her head slightly.**

**Once JT had finally accepted that he wasn't in Iowa, but in his own head, the illusion had shattered and together, he with help from T'Pol had managed to deal with the memory that was replaying over and over again in his mind. It had been hard, as at first JT refused to try and come to terms with it.**

**But after a while he had. **

**T'Pol knew it would take years for JT to get over what had happened and to get his memories under control so that his ever moment wasn't haunted by them. There was even a chance that JT would never forgive himself for killing the way he had and if he never let go, the memories would always haunt him.**

**For now T'Pol knew JT's mental and emotional state was stable enough, but he would still need to see a mind healer as soon as possible. For a psi-null human, what JT was suffering from could easily be sorted by a normal councillor, but that was no longer an option as T'Pol's suspicions had been confirmed when she first entered JT's head.**

**JT was not psi-null.**

**As a result JT's mind was attacking itself in order to try and protect itself from the raging emotions and terrifying memories which now whirled around his head as he tried to deal with the aftermath of Tarsus IV.**

"**So what happens now?" JT asked slowly, as he studied his surroundings.**

"**For the time being I will act as your mind healer until one is available," T'Pol explained. "I have already sent a request to Vulcan and a mind healer will most likely be waiting for you when we return to Earth."**

"**We're returning to Earth?!" JT demanded.**

"**Affirmative," T'Pol answered. "We leave orbit tomorrow at thirteen hundred hours."**

"**When were we going to be told?" JT demanded again, getting angry.**

"**You need to calm down, JT," T'Pol warned an eyebrow arching as she did so. "Archer was planning on telling you later today, after you had collected any remaining personal belongings from the planet's surface."**

**JT shook his head. "I'm not going back to Earth."**

"**You must," T'Pol replied. "You cannot remain here and Earth is your home planet."**

"**You don't understand!" JT snapped. "If I go back to Earth they'll just put me in some shitty foster home and be done with it. Or worse. After all I am **_**the Kelvin baby. **_**There is no way in hell I'm getting handed from one family to the next, just because they all want to be the family that raised the famous baby of a dead Starfleet hero! Only to realise I'm more trouble than I'm worth and hand me on to the next willing family!"**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I am aiming to update this story once a week now I'm back to college. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


	51. Chapter 50

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Fifty:

**JT sat looking out of the view port as the ship made its way back to Earth at warp factor three. And all JT could think about was the possible ways he could escape and run away before they got planet side. **

**He didn't want to go back to Earth. **

**He would willingly go anywhere else but Earth. There was nothing left for him on that planet, apart from a farmhouse full of bad memories and a life in foster care.**

**But how could he escape? It was impossible to beam off a moving ship, so using the transporter was out of the question. He'd get caught long before he could successfully hack into one of the shuttles and use it to escape. And there was nowhere to hide on the ship that the inner-ship scanner wouldn't be able to pick up.**

**He was going to be going back to Earth just to spend the rest of his underage life stuck in foster home after foster home and countless trips to the see shrinks and endless looks of pity. All the things he dreaded the most. **

**He didn't need pity. **

**He had survived. **

**He didn't need to sit in a chair while someone talked to him and tried to get him to talk about his emotions and how Tarsus made him feel. And if he didn't fit in to the little box everyone seemed to think was normal, out came the notepad and the list of drugs which would make everything better.**

**He didn't need happy pills, he just needed space. He didn't need someone to sit there and tell him how to feel and how to cope. How the hell would they know anyway? **

**Had they ever witnessed a massacre first hand? No. **

**Had they ever watched the ones they loved get slaughtered like animals? No. **

**Had they ever been hunted and been forced to live in the wild for months on end, all the while just waiting for someone to find them and kill them? No. **

**Had they held their friend in their arms as they bleed out and died? No.**

**Had they killed people in order to save themselves and others? No.**

**Had they crawled through the blood of the dead in order to escape? No.**

**So could someone please explain how they supposedly knew what it felt like and how he should be feeling and how he should be dealing with it, if they had never known what it was like to start with? JT really was getting frustrated by it all. He'd go see a shrink when one actually knew what it felt like. One who had lived through what he had lived through and truly knew what it felt like.**

**JT tensed suddenly as he heard footsteps approaching, before he relaxed slightly. The footsteps where too light to be an adults and all the children aboard the ship JT knew, as they had all been on Tarsus IV together. The door to the observation hall JT was sitting in swished open and the footsteps entered.**

"_**Hello," **_**A voice behind him greeted.**

**JT jumped and looked round. The voice which had spoken hadn't spoken English. Standing by the door was a young Vulcan girl, only she didn't look fully Vulcan. Her hair was a dark blonde, much lighter in colour than most Vulcan's hair and her eyes were definitely human.**

"_**I'm Elizabeth Tucker," **_**The Vulcan girl introduced herself and JT realised she didn't have the same speech pattern as T'Pol, so she hadn't been born and raised on Vulcan. Her speech pattern was human.**

"_**I'm JT."**_** JT answered in Vulcan after a moment, he might as well use the knowledge Hoshi Sato had taught him.**

**And much to JT's shock the Vulcan girl smiled.**

XxX

_After all Uhura knew words hurt far more than open wounds ever could, especially when they hit so close to home. _

"Mother fuc-" Jim cut himself off with a pained groan as Martha pulled the bullet from the wound.

Breathing as deeply as he could, Jim shut his eyes and tried to breathe through the pain. Why did the painkillers on this ship have to be the ones he was allergic to? Now, as much as he hated to admit it, he wished Bones was there with one of his hypos.

Jim had been shot plenty of times before, but he never remembered the pain being this bad. It hurt so much! He was sure he was going to pass out any moment, the pain was that intense! Jim let out another pained groan as Martha stapled his wound shut. The medical kit this ship had was nowhere near as up to date as it should have been.

"I've done all I can," Martha speaks up as she peels of her blood covered medical gloves. "You have got to be the luckiest person I know, Jim. If that bullet had been at a slightly different angle, it would have hit something vital or you would have bleed out before we could get you to the nearest medical facility."

Jim let's out a weak laugh. "If I was that lucky, this wouldn't hurt as much."

"I'm so sorry about that, Jim," Martha apologises, looking guilty. "But all the painkillers we have are ones you can't have."

"Don't worry about it, Martha," Jim groans as his sits up, his hand instinctively going to his now treated wound. "It's not your fault… Just maybe next time have more than two options of painkillers."

"Try not to move too much," Martha places a hand on Jim's shoulder gently. "You don't want to pull too much on the wound or it might reopen."

Jim nodes before holding out a hand, "Help me up."

With a sigh Martha takes his hand and helps Jim to his feet.

"If the wound reopens don't blame me," Martha mutters with a shake of her head.

Jim grins at her, "I'd never blame you, Martha."

Wincing slightly, Jim heads to the door and out into one of the hallways of the ship. He knew this ship. When he had first been bought aboard he'd been too distracted by the pain to give it much thought. This was the _AstraI Queen_, a cargo and/or passenger ship, captained by one Jon Daily.

Heading towards the bridge of the ship, Jim couldn't keep the smile off his face. It had been a few years since he had last seen Jon and the two of them had a lot of catching up to do. Reaching the bridge, Jim hesitates for a moment.

Would Jon want to see him? The last time they had meet there had been some trouble and Jim had accidentally got Jon pulled into the centre of it. But then Jon wouldn't be here if he hadn't. No matter how much Martha may have sweet-talked him, he would never have agreed to help if he hadn't wanted to see him again.

Stepping onto the small bridge of the ship, Jim's smile widens as he sees the familiar profile of Jon Daily sitting in the pilot's seat. The man had hardly changed since they had last meet. He was still dressed in the old style Jim was used to associating with him and his hair was still styled in a short back and sides cut.

"Jon," Jim greets.

Jon spins in his chair to face Jim a huge smile breaking across his face as he jumps to his feet and strides towards Jim only to stop a step in front of him and rest a friendly hand on Jim's shoulder. Just like always Jon towered over Jim, everyone used to joke he was a giant not a human at his 6'7".

"Jim!" Jon greets cheerfully. "It's been too long!"

XxX

**No.1 paced up and down her office, her hand behind her back and her head bowed forward. Her slightly greying dark brown hair was pulled in a tight bun and her navy blue and grey uniform was perfectly pressed. Her black shoes were polished and had she wished to, she could have used them as a mirror.**

**Finally she turned and sat down at her desk. Only to start tapping her flawlessly manicured nails on the surface of her desk. Sighing No.1 linked her hands together and frowned. She was one of the most powerful women in Starfleet and a teenage boy had reduced her to pacing up and down her office unable to make up her mind on what she should do.**

**She was the women in charge of Starfleet Intelligence, one of Starfleet less well known parts. Starfleet Intelligence and Section 31 were two of the most important aspects of Starfleet, yet very few people knew about them. **

**Section 31 developed weapons and new defence systems in order to defend the Federation from anyone who wanted to destroy it. All weapons which were used by Starfleet officers had been developed by Section 31, as were the shielding systems. Section 31 were currently working on a new cloaking systems, but that was still in the early stages of development.**

**Starfleet Intelligence on the other hand didn't operate like that. Starfleet Intelligence was your classic spy agency. Agents who worked for Starfleet Intelligence went under cover all over the place, gathering information on everything from new diseases to new civilization as well as tracking down and gathering information on those who wished to destroy the Federation.**

**They dealt with everything ranging from terrorist groups and civil wars to sending spies into the Klingon and Romulan Empire's. And if a threat to the Federation was found and needed to be taken out, the task was handed over to Section 31, who dealt with that alongside their main focus.**

**She was a women who had to make tough decisions in split seconds and yet she couldn't make up her mind on what to do about a certain teenager named James Tiberius Kirk. Winona Kirk, or Winona Davis as she had been known when No.1 first meet her, had been best friends at Starfleet academy.**

**Then Winona had gotten married and been assigned to a different ship after they had graduated and No.1 had been snatched up by Starfleet Intelligence and they had slowly lost contact with each other. Which was why it had come as such a surprise when Winona had named her godmother to her first born child.**

**And a few years later her second had been born and her husband had died. And once more No.1 had been named godmother. Years later when the truth about Winona's second husband had come to light, James had been shipped off to live with his aunt and uncle, so No.1 had never had to worry about him. The Winona had died a year later and the year after that James's uncle and aunt had been killed.**

**Now James was about to be put into the foster system. She knew if she wanted she could claim him, he was her godson and she had also been listed as a guardian should anything happen to his blood relatives. But No.1 had never had a child of her own and didn't have the slightest idea on how to raise one.**

**So why was this matter making her feel so conflicted? **

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	52. Chapter 51

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Fifty-one:

**Elizabeth smiled at JT, before skipping over to him and taking his hand. She could feel the surprise which flooded through him at her action. Elizabeth tugged on JT's hand and grinned at him.**

"_**Come on,**_**" Elizabeth tugged at his hand again. "**_**Let's go explore!**_**"**

"_**Why?**_**" JT asked, curious and weary at the same time.**

"_**Because I have never had a friend to explore with before,**_**" Elizabeth paused for a moment. "**_**Will you be my friend?**_**"**

**JT didn't know what to say. Elisabeth was quite clearly part Vulcan yet she acted nothing like a Vulcan, see acted like most human girls of her age or what JT thought was her age, but it was always hard to tell with Vulcan's.**

"_**Sure,**_**" JT answered finally. "**_**Where do you want to go exploring?**_**"**

"_**Well my father said there is a hidden passage which leads to engineering,**_**" Elizabeth replies, not letting go of JT's hands as he got to his feet. "**_**We are going to find it.**_**"**

**JT nodded as he let Elizabeth drag him from the room and out into the hallway. "**_**Why don't you just get a copy of the ships blueprints? It will be much easier than searching the whole ship.**_**"**

"_**I don't have permission to see the ship's blueprints,**_**" Elizabeth explained. "**_**And my mother will not help me, as she does not approve of my father's idea of fun. She said it was 'illogical and dangerous'.**_**"**

**JT couldn't fault that, a young girl, or any young child for that matter, running around the ship looking for a secret passage could be quite dangerous. There were many parts of the ship which weren't safe to be in unless you were an officer who knew how to do the job that area of the ship was home to. Not that the possibility of danger had ever stopped JT before.**

"_**Are you sure there is a passage?**_**" JT asked.**

"_**Yes,**_**" Elizabeth nodded. "**_**Why do you ask?**_**"**

"_**Because my uncle used to send me to find things that didn't actually exist to keep me busy when I had nothing to do sometimes.**_**" JT explained with a slight smile as he remembered one particular time he had spent days looking for something that didn't actually exist. It had actually been quite fun, even Kev and Tom had helped him.**

"_**Why would he do that?**_**" Elizabeth questioned, tilting her head slightly. "**_**It is illogical and a waste of energy.**_**"**

**JT grinned, now that answer had sounded more like an answer a Vulcan would give.**

"_**Because I was bored and needed something to do,**_**" JT explained. "**_**The wilderness of Tarsus IV could be incredibly dangerous at certain times of the year, so I was unable to go exploring in the mountains. As a result I often had nothing to do and my uncle would give me a list of things to find around the colony. Sometimes he'd put something on the list that didn't exist.**_**"**

"**JT!" A voice from behind them called.**

**JT paused and looked round to see Kev racing down the corridor towards them.**

"**JT," Kev greeted as he drew level with them. "I've been looking for you everywhere!"**

"**What's up, Kev?" JT questioned.**

"**Dr Phlox needs you," Kev explains. **

"**Why?" JT asked, he wasn't scheduled for a check-up for another few days.**

"**Something upset Eleanor and she's hiding," Kev answered. "None of nurses or doctors can get her to come out."**

XxX

_Jon spins in his chair to face Jim a huge smile breaking across his face as he jumps to his feet and strides towards Jim only to stop a step in front of him and rest a friendly hand on Jim's shoulder. Just like always Jon towered over Jim, everyone used to joke he was a giant not a human at his 6'7"._

"_Jim!" Jon greets cheerfully. "It's been too long!"_

Spock sat meditating, trying to clear his mind and get his raging emotions under control. How was it whenever Jim was involved he struggled to control his emotions? Spock and Jim had barely known each other at all when Jim had first pushed Spock beyond his level of control and the second time had not even been a year later.

It seemed to be a skill Jim had down to perfection. Emotionally comprising Vulcan's. Even Uhura hadn't been able to push Spock as far as Jim had in the past. Never before had Spock lost control because of Uhura, even when on the odd occasion her life had been in danger. He worried for her and would always seek her out after, but never had he lost control like he did with Jim.

Maybe it would be different if Uhura died, like Jim had the second time he had lost control of his emotions. But that wasn't something Spock wanted to think about, his emotional control was already being pushed to its limits and Spock knew he wouldn't be able to keep control much longer if he thought about such things.

Because sitting there meditating, he wanted nothing more than to hunt down Kodos and rip him apart with his bare hands for what he had done to Jim on Tarsus IV. It was a rage similar to what he had felt when he had chased down Khan and almost killed him. He had only stopped when Uhura had told him Khan was the only chance they had of saving Jim.

Even as he sat there, the reaction he had to Jim's death still surprised him. He had seen other crew members die and he had witnessed first-hand the death of Pike and yet his emotional response had been nothing like what he had felt when Jim died. How had he and Jim become friends so quickly? Spock hadn't even been able to admit they were friends before he had knelt next to the door leading to the warp core chamber.

But at the same time Spock was feeling a great sadness. He knew what it felt like to lose his home planet and one of the people he held closest to his heart. Jim had lost his home too. And unlike Spock he had watched the ones he loved die. He had held them in his arms as they died and had been trapped under their bodies.

He had felt the warmth of their blood and the coldness of their lifeless bodies. He had stared into their lifeless eyes and watched the life in them flicker away. He had also watched the planet die. The fungus had destroyed everything and Jim had watched it happen. When he had left Tarsus IV, it hadn't been the same planet it was when he first stepped foot on it.

Spock shifted ever so slightly where he sat, as he tried to clear his mind once more. The harder he tried to clear the images from his head, the more they seemed to refuse to be forgotten. How had Jim turned into the Captain he was a mystery. Even Spock couldn't even get his own emotions under control or get his mind away from the horrors he had seen in the files.

Jim had lived through it and yet he never showed any signs of ever having suffered anything beyond the odd beating and torture sessions he had suffered at the hands of the inhabitants of a planet when they were taken captive. Where had he learnt such control?

Spock was snapped from his thoughts as the chime from the door rung.

"I'll get it," Uhura offered getting to her feet and moving over to the door.

"Scotty, what are you doing here?" She asks in surprise, as she answers the door.

"A'm needin' tae talk tae Mr Spock," Scotty explains.

XxX

**Dr Phlox was sat in his office, across from him Archer was shaking his head.**

"**Tell me you're wrong, Dr Phlox," Archer pleaded. "Tell me there was a mistake or a miss calculation in the results."**

"**I have double checked and triple checked… The results are accurate and the disease is incurable." Dr Phlox explained.**

"**No," Archer shook his head. "This can't be happening… After everything that has happened…"**

"**The disease is currently dormant," Dr Phlox answered picking up his PADD and studying the data it showed once again. "It could take years for the disease to become active or it may simply remain dormant."**

"**If the disease becomes active…" Archer hesitated for a moment. "How long?"**

"**The disease has five stages," Dr Phlox replied. "And it is almost impossible to detract in the first four stages, I only found it because I was looking for it, but once the disease enters its final stage… It's only at matter of weeks before death."**

**Archer nodded. "What are the chances of survival?"**

"**The disease is incurable by modern medicine, but there have been cases where the being suffering from the disease have survived." Dr Phlox answered.**

"**Well that's good," Arched pointed out. "That means there's hope. There's a chance of survival."**

"**I'm afraid not," Dr Phlox shook his head. "Of all the beings that survived, none of them were human."**

**The hope Archer had been feeling shattered and vanished, as it was replaced with a feeling of despair. **

**He shut his eyes. "When are you going to tell him?"**

"**I do not know," Dr Phlox answered. "But he has to be told before we reach Earth… The truth is I do not know how he will react to this news. He already has too much to deal with. He is also beginning to show signs of post-traumatic stress disorder."**

"**What about T'Pol? She needs to be informed." Archer questioned.**

"**I will speak to T'Pol later," Dr Phlox reassured Archer. "For now I would like to keep this quiet."**

"**Understandable," Arched answered. "What about the others, are they infected too?"**

"**They have the disease too, but a different type," Dr Phlox explained. "Type one is curable, type two is not."**

"**What of the colonists?" Archer asked.**

"**Two thirds have type one, the remaining third have type two," Dr Phlox replied.**

**Archer just shook his head in disbelief. Hadn't those who lived on Tarsus IV suffered enough already? **

"**The fungus caused this," Archer muttered. "The planet needs to be quarantined. I have to speak to the admirals immediately."**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If anyone has any stories they'd like to see, let me know and I'll do my best to write them, as I plan on finishing this story by the Easter holidays and need new stories to write (either PM me or leave a review). Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	53. Chapter 52

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Fifty-two:

"**JT," Dr Phlox greeted JT, as he entered the medical bay with Elizabeth and Kev. "Just who I was hoping to see."**

"**Kev said you needed help with Eleanor," JT answered looking round for where she was hiding. "Where is she?"**

"**I show you, if you'll follow me," Dr Phlox replies, setting down the medical equipment he was checking.**

"**Okay," JT nodded and Dr Phlox smiled and began to lead the way across the medical bay.**

**They made it half way across the medical bay when a voice caused JT to stop. **

"**Elizabeth," A voice called across the medical bay. "Come here."**

**JT turned towards the voice and Elizabeth momentarily tightened her grip on JT's hand. Frowning JT turned his attention to Elizabeth, as he had only heard Elizabeth speak Vulcan and the person had spoken standard. But then understanding a language and speaking it were quite different.**

"_**No,**_**" Elizabeth answered in Vulcan.**

"**Elizabeth," The person replied, their voice sharp. "Now!"**

**JT took a moment to study the person. The person was a women in her late thirties, if JT's judge of age was anything to go by. She had black hair pulled back into a ponytail and she was wearing a red uniform which JT recognised to be a sign she worked in engineering, as it was slightly different to the security and communications uniforms'.**

**Elizabeth glanced at JT, before letting go of his hand and walking over to the woman. Sharing a glance with Kev, JT turned and began to follow Dr Phlox when the woman's hushed voice stopped him in his tracks.**

"**You are not to go near him, Elizabeth," The woman scolded Elizabeth. "He is dangerous to be around. His behaviour is unpredictable and he could harm you. What would your mother and father say, if they heard you were mixing with him? If I see you with him, or any of the others for that matter, I will be forced to tell your parents."**

"**JT **_**is not-**_**" Elizabeth began, only to be cut off.**

"**No, Elizabeth, he is dangerous," The women replied. "The things he did on that planet are unforgivable and if it were not for the fact he is underage, he'd have been thrown in the brig. The others are no different. They are all dangerous."**

**JT turned and looked towards the woman and his gaze meet Elizabeth's. If JT had been anyone else, he probably wouldn't have heard the woman talking. But his hearing was sharper than most peoples, as it had been key to his survival. He had needed to be able to hear Kodos' men before they heard him.**

**The woman turned her attention towards him too and seemed to realise what she had just said had been heard. And JT it felt like his whole world was crashing down around him once more. Like his safety nets had just been cut and he was falling once again.**

**They thought he was dangerous.**

**They thought he was a monster.**

**They thought he wasn't safe to be around.**

**They thought he was a murderer.**

**JT turned and looked at Dr Phlox. Did he think it too? Had his kindness just been an act, because he thought if he wasn't kind to him, he would kill him? Had he only asked him down here to help with Eleanor, because they thought while she was hiding she could jump out and attack them. After all it was safer to have your enemy in full view.**

"**JT?" Dr Phlox asked, seeing JT was no longer following him.**

**JT shook his head and began backing up. What would Dr Phlox do now he knew JT knew his kindness was just an act? Would he be thrown in the brig like the woman had said, in order to keep the crew safe? Would he be tortured again? Kodos claimed it was for the same reason after JT had sent so many his men to their deaths.**

**Dr Phlox reached out a hand to try and comfort JT upon seeing the look of his face and thinking he was having a flashback to his time on Tarsus.**

"**Keep away from me!" JT yelled, ducking past Dr Phlox's hand and running from the medical bay.**

XxX

_Spock was snapped from his thoughts as the chime from the door rung._

"_I'll get it," Uhura offered getting to her feet and moving over to the door. _

"_Scotty, what are you doing here?" She asks in surprise, as she answers the door._

"_A'm needin' tae talk tae Mr Spock," Scotty explains._

Jim stares at the PADD in front of him. He'd found another puzzle piece, No. 1 would be pleased to hear about it no doubt. Jim shook his head and sat back in his chair, wincing as the movement pulled at his wound. Shutting his eyes, Jim sighs. Of all of the people in the universe, why did Kodos have to be a part of The Five?

The Five were a group Jim had stumbled upon after he had looked through some files from Section 31. It had been during the period where control of Section 31 had been handed over to No. 1 and Starfleet's intelligence agency had hidden Khan and his crew somewhere safe and at a location only a handful of people knew about.

At first Jim hadn't thought much of it. It wasn't unusual for codenames to be used in documents concerning Federation secrets, but when the names kept appearing over and over again Jim decided it wasn't something which could be ignored. And that's how The Five had been found out about and Jim had done a good job at putting the pieces he had together.

The Five were a group of five people with a plan to rewrite Federation history and not for the better… Well they'd probably argue it was for the better. In the most simple of terms, they wanted to start a second eugenics war. Only less like a war and more like a massacre.

It seemed massacres were a theme when it came to Kodos.

Each of The Five had a different role to play, but thankfully their plan had fallen apart when Admiral Marcus had died, as he had been the one in charge of the first stage of the plan and his part of the plan would have worked if Jim hadn't decided against firing torpedoes at the Klingon Empire.

Jim had found out who another member of the group was purely by accident when Nurse Chapel had insisted he go with her, when she visited her then fiancé and he had found out about Roger Korby's cloning machine. Now he knew Kodos was the third member, so that left two people unaccounted for.

Of the two people who were left, one was responsible for bioengineering a disease, which would kill those who were genetically undesirable and the other was responsible for developing the weapons which were going to be used in the second eugenics war… The weapons which would be used to kill entire planets which were deemed undesirable.

Jim had seen the blue prints for weapons when he had dug deeper into Admiral Marcus's files. If one was detonated, the results wouldn't be pretty and there would be no survivors. Opening his eyes, Jim switches off the PADD and gets to his feet. It seemed Tom had unearthed more than the fact Kodos was still alive in his search and this was far more important, even if he hadn't known about it.

Jim quickly left the room and headed up to the bridge where Jon was currently piloting the ship on his own. Martha and Kev had both headed off to bed an hour or two ago. Jon ship was a cargo ship, so the majority of the space aboard was for cargo storage, but there were five sets of crew quarters. But as tired as he was, Jim knew he wouldn't be able to sleep.

XxX

**JT ran and he didn't stop. He ducked past crew members and ignored their startled cries as he did so. He needed somewhere to hide, but nowhere was safe on this ship. No matter what hiding place he found, the crew of the ship would be able to find him. He could try hacking the system, but it'd take too long and he didn't know if he could successfully hack something so complex.**

**Hearing the sound of crew members talking further down the hallway he was running along, JT climbs up into the closest Jefferies tube and crawls along it. The voices draw closer and pass before going out of hearing range. JT breathed a sigh of relief, before shutting his eyes and trying to work out whereabouts in the ship he was.**

**Picturing the ship's blueprints in his mind, he works out where he could be. But the blue prints he had looked at had only covered the hallways, corridors and rooms which made up the ship. The Jefferies tube's had their own set of blueprints. Opening his eyes, JT kept crawling forward. No matter where he ended, he just needed to keep moving and keep his movements as unpredictable as possible in the process.**

**He didn't know what they'd do if they found him, he just hoped if they did find him the worst they would do was throw him in the brig. He knew it was illegal for Starfleet to torture their prisoners, but JT had learnt long ago, just because something was illegal didn't mean people didn't do it behind closed doors.**

**Suddenly a wave of fear, panic, sadness and general distress hit JT hard, like being hit by a speed train made of raw emotions causing him to gasp for breath as the emotions threaten to overwhelm him. And as quickly as it struck him, it was gone, fading into the background noise of emotions, which weren't his own, he could now feel at the back of his mind. **

**Gasping and backing up into the side of the Jefferies tube, JT blinked rapidly as tears welled up in his eyes and his heart felt like it was going to burst from his chest. The sheer power of the emotions which hit him made it feel like his skull was going to explode and a migraine made itself known as his head began throbbing.**

**Trying to focus on the world around him, JT almost cried out as the light sent spikes of pain through his head. He screwed his eyes shut and tried to calm his now uneven and shaky breathing. But all JT could focus on was the pain. It hurt so much. He never felt pain like it, even when he had been tortured, the pain had never been like this. He was sure his skull was about to crack open.**

**Gasping and keeping his eyes firmly shut, JT began moving forward. He couldn't stay in one place for too long or he'd be found. All he could do now was trust his instincts would lead him somewhere safe and keep him from danger.**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I have posted two new Star Trek stories: 'AOS: Where No Man Has Gone Before' (it is the AOS version of the TOS episode) and 'C-24: The Truth about Mars' (it's a crossover with Doom), so please check them out if you're interested. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	54. Chapter 53

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Fifty-three:

**T'Pol hurried through the halls of the ship searching for JT. She was not alone in her search as Dr Phlox walked besides her, cursing under his breath in his native tongue. After JT had fled from the medical bay, Kev had disappeared too. It hadn't taken them long to find him though. He had returned to the room the survivors had been using and barricaded himself and the others in their room.**

**All of them were refusing to come out or let anyone in. But at the moment they weren't the priority. The room had a replicator and bathroom, so food, water and hygiene weren't going to be an issue and they were safe on the ship, but it was an issue they would have to deal with soon. **

**But right now they had to find JT. **

**Once JT they had found, they'd have to find a way to coax Eleanor out of her hiding place in the medical bay. She still needed medical attention and the longer she went without treatment the more likely it would be she'd fall ill again. None of the doctors were sure if she would be able to survive a second time.**

**But at that moment they were having trouble tracking JT down. It seemed he was constantly moving around the ship, using the Jeffries tubes as he means of getting around. He didn't appear to be moving that fast, if anything he was slowing down. But the tubes twisted and tunnelled their way through the ship in a different pattern to the hallways and corridors.**

**So one moment T'Pol and Dr Phlox could be in the same hallway as the Jeffries tube JT was crawling along, only for him to take a turn and suddenly be above a completely different hallway, which couldn't be accessed from the hallway Dr Phlox and T'Pol were searching in. **

**It would have been logical to send someone into the Jeffries tubes in order to catch up with JT, but Dr Phlox had forbidden anyone from doing so. Whatever had been going through JT's head when he had fled the medical bay couldn't have been good, or why would he have fled from someone he was being to trust? **

**It was Dr Phlox's belief that something had triggered one of JT's memories from his time on Tarsus, so sending people after him would only make him more desperate and willing to take risks in order to escape them. Which could lead to JT being harmed and that was the last thing Dr Phlox wanted to happen.**

**And so that was how Dr Phlox and T'Pol found themselves walking through the seemingly endless hallways and corridors of the ship, as they tried to find JT. Inwardly T'Pol was beginning to get nervous, it had been hours since Dr Phlox had come to her, asking for help in order to find JT. **

**She knew what could happen to him in his current metal state. **

**She knew what his own abilities could do.**

**Suddenly T'Pol communicator beeped and she quickly pulled it from her belt and flipped it open.**

"_**T'Pol,**_**" A voice greeted her before she could say anything. "**_**I found him. I've found JT.**_**"**

**T'Pol shared a glance with Dr Phlox, before turning her attention back to her communicator.**

"**Where are you currently, Chief Engineer Tucker?" T'Pol asked.**

"_**Near the senior officers' mess hall,**_**" The voice of Chief Engineer Tucker answered through the communicator.**

"**Myself and Dr Phlox are on our way," T'Pol replied, before snapping her communicator shut and re-placing it on her belt.**

**Neither of them had to be told twice as they turned and made their way to the closest turbo lift. T'Pol knew it was pointless to ask questions she would soon know the answer to as it would waste time, but there had been a hint of something in Tucker's voice. **

**It had sounded almost like… Panic. Which was unusual, as T'Pol knew Tucker could keep a level in almost any situation when he needed to. **

XxX

_Jim quickly left the room and headed up to the bridge where Jon was currently piloting the ship on his own. Martha and Kev had both headed off to bed an hour or two ago. Jon ship was a cargo ship, so the majority of the space aboard was for cargo storage, but there were five sets of crew quarters. But as tired as he was, Jim knew he wouldn't be able to sleep._

McCoy swirled the liquid in the glass in his hand. The dark coloured bourbon was one of the best McCoy had ever tasted and it had been a birthday gift from Jim. McCoy didn't even want to begin to think about how much it must have cost Jim to buy it, hence why McCoy had been saving it. But at that moment McCoy needed something strong to take the edge off and the bourbon was the only thing strong enough.

Slipping the liquid, McCoy savoured the burn of it and its rich taste. Jim knew a great many things and one of them was exactly how McCoy liked his alcohol. Not that was a surprise, Jim was his best friend and they had been best friends long enough to know each other's tastes. Just like how McCoy knew Jim liked his apples tangy rather than sweet, or how Jim liked coffee in the mornings and he liked his coffee strong, but would drink a strange smelling tea in the afternoons and evening or whenever he was stressed… McCoy was sure it was a Vulcan blend.

McCoy sighs as he sips the bourbon again, wishing Jim was there with him to share it with him. It had been a while since the two of them had sat down together and enjoyed a nice alcoholic beverage. Placing the glass down on his desk beside the hypo McCoy had ready, just in case their was an emergency and he was needed, as he'd be no use to anyone drunk, he run a hand over his face.

He knew he should really try and get some sleep. He had ordered Nurse Chapel to deliver mild sedatives to the crew members who had been present when they had gone through the files Archer had sent them, knowing none of them would be able to sleep easily without help. But he hadn't prescribed anything for himself. He wouldn't be able to rest properly until Jim was back, regardless of a sedative or not.

He just couldn't stop thinking about all the horrors Jim could be going through at that moment.

What if Ensign Brown had passed Jim and Kevin over to Kodos?

McCoy had seen Jim's medical reports from Tarsus and they proved Kodos was one sick bastard. And that in itself raised questions McCoy didn't want to think about. And then there was the matter of how Jim would react when he learnt one of his best kept secrets had been told to his entire senior crew.

The people dearest to him.

McCoy knew Jim liked to keep his past as well hidden as he could. He liked to sit back with a smile and watch as the rumours about his past spread from person to person and laughing when no one ever questioned them. Because the truth was, Jim's past was nothing like what people believed and most of the time McCoy wished he could believe the rumours over the truth.

The rumour was far more pleasant than the truth was.

Picking up his glass once more, McCoy downed the last of the bourbon in the glass. Picking up the bottle, McCoy moves to pour himself another glass but the sight of a note book sticking out from under a pile of PADD's and medical journals catches his attention.

Placing the bottle down, McCoy quickly pulls the note book from it where had been its hiding place and begins to flick through the pages. McCoy knew what it was as soon as he saw the first picture. It was a scrapbook of pictures Jim had drawn, painted and sketched.

And it only took McCoy a second to realise that every single picture and sketch in the book were from their first year of the five year mission they were on. Landscapes from planets they had visited covered entire pages, while pictures of plants were dotted across the pages with labels beside them. Buildings along with alien technology and pretty much everything Jim had laid eyes on were drawn with such detail they almost looked a pictures which had been taken with a holo recorder.

Flicking to the back of the book, McCoy found a hand written note and the hand writing was without a doubt was Jim's. '_Space is disease and danger, wrapped in darkness and __silence__' __Well__congratulations__, __Bones__, __you__survived__the__first__year__. _McCoy could almost hear the laugh Jim must have laughed as he wrote it. _Buckle__up__, '__cause__this__is__ far __from__over__. After __all__ one tiny crack in the hull and our blood boils in thirteen __seconds__… __Not__ to __mention __those __solar __flares__ which __might crop up__. _And despite himself, McCoy smiles.

XxX

**Charles Tucker or 'Trip' as he was more commonly referred to by his friends, hadn't been having the greatest of days. A fire in the depths of engineering had forced him to pull a double shift to cover for those sent up to medical bay to receive treatment. The fire had damaged quite a lot of circuits and melted a lot of wiring, but Tucker was just glad nobody had been seriously hurt.**

**As a result of the fire and the damaged circuit boards and melted wires, Tucker had found himself crawling through the Jeffries tubes, ripping out wiring as he went and making notes on his PADD of where new wring would need to be fitted. He had just turned and crawled into the main Jeffries tube by the officers' mess hall, when he had stumbled upon an unconscious JT.**

**When Tucker had first spotted JT, he had almost had a heart attack. JT was so pale, at first Tucker had thought he was dead. It hadn't been until he had noticed the weak rise and fall of JT's chest that he had realised JT was in fact alive. He had quickly crawled over to JT and as he drew closer he noticed the thin layer of sweat which covered his forehead and the small tremors which run through his body.**

**Tucker hadn't hesitated as he pulled his communicator from his belt and flipped it open and commed T'Pol. With T'Pol and Dr Phlox on their way, Tucker snapped his communicator shut and rested a hand gently on one of JT's shoulders. Even though he was unconscious, JT flinched back away from the contact with a moan of pain and his hands came up and clawed at his head, pulling at his hair and tearing his skin.**

**Wrapping his hands around JT's wrists, Tucker slowly and gently pulled JT's hands away from his head in order to stop himself from causing himself further harm. JT whimpered and tried to pull himself free of Tuckers grasp, but his movements were weak and slow. From what Tucker could tell, JT had no physical injuries but Tucker had heard it mentioned that JT suffered from migraines.**

**So as a panel further down the Jeffries tube began sparking, Tucker picked up JT and quickly backed out of the Jeffries tube and into one of the ships many hallways. He had just set JT down on the floor, when Dr Phlox appeared beside him and began running a medical scanner over JT. Stepping back Tucker glanced sideways as a hand brushed against his.**

**T'Pol stood at his side, her gaze fixed on JT as Dr Phlox read the results from his medical scanner. Tucker knew she was worried, even if she showed no outward sign of it. At first Tucker had found it strange that T'Pol had taken such an interest in JT, but then he had meet the kid. Tucker could openly admit, if he ever had a son like JT, he'd be the proudest father in the world.**

**There was just something about him. **

**Maybe it was his passion for engineering or his loyalty to the other eight he'd survived Tarsus with. Or maybe it was because in some ways, JT reminded him of his daughter Elizabeth. The both had a curiosity about them which Tucker had never seen before. So Tucker could understand why T'Pol felt the way she did about him. And it made Tucker smile every time he thought about it, because it showed T'Pol cared. **

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	55. Chapter 54

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Fifty-four:

**Dr Phlox didn't know what to make of the readings he was getting from his medical scanner. JT's vitals were all over the place, his heart was speeding up and then suddenly slowing down and almost stopping only to speed up again to an almost fatally high rate. It was alarming, but the scanner was unable to determine the cause. JT was also under a lot of metal pressure and if that pressure wasn't taken care of soon, it would lead to neurological damage which couldn't be fixed.**

"**I don't understand," Dr Phlox muttered to himself. "These reading don't make sense."**

"**Is there a problem, doctor?" T'Pol asked.**

"**Yes." Dr Phlox answered, running his scanner over JT again.**

"**Should you not request assistance from the medical bay?" T'Pol replied, raising an eyebrow slightly.**

**Dr Phlox shook his head. "I wouldn't even begin to know how to treat him… The results from the scan are not unlike that of an untrained adolescent Betazoid when their telepathic and empathic abilities first awaken."**

**T'Pol didn't answer, she simply knelt beside the doctor and reached out a hand. JT flinched slightly as T'Pol fingers made contact with his face, but other than that he had no other reaction. T'Pol shut her eyes and muttered quietly under her breath. **

**After a few moments JT's vital signs began to calm and the mental pressure he was under began to subside, but Phlox had no doubt that when JT woke up, he'd have a rather painful headache. But that could easily be treated.**

"**What's going on?" Tucker asked, worry clouding his tone and making his accent stronger than usual. "What's wrong with him?"**

"**I am unsure," Dr Phlox answered. "But it is quite possible that JT has some Betazoid blood in him… A grandparent perhaps."**

"**What?" Tucker demands. "But he's human! Both his parents were human, not part human! You'd think the entire Federation would know if one of the Kirk's weren't fully human!"**

"**It is only a theory, Lieutenant Commander," Dr Phlox answered. "I will not know the truth about JT's potentially mixed heritage until I have had an in-depth looking at his DNA."**

"**But it's impossible!" Tucker exclaimed.**

"**Nothing is impossible, Trip," T'Pol suddenly spoke up. "As you have proved on countless occasions."**

"**If this is about that time-" Tucker began to defend himself.**

"**Dr Phlox," T'Pol turned to the doctor. "Could you please take JT to mine and the Lieutenant Commanders quarters'? We will be along shortly, but first there is an engineer who is need of a reprimand."**

"**What?!" Tucker demands. "None of my engineers have done anything wrong! There was an accident in engineering earlier, but that was nobody's fault!"**

"**I am not referring to the events which occurred in engineering," T'Pol answered. "I'm referring to the event which has caused JT's current distress and fear."**

"**An engineer did this to him?!" Tucker exclaimed. "We don't even know what's wrong with him!"**

"**Trip!" T'Pol spoke sharply, her anger momentarily breaking through her control.**

**Tucker stared at her for a second. "Alright, lead the way." **

XxX

_Flicking to the back of the book, McCoy found a hand written note and the hand writing was without a doubt was Jim's. '__Space is disease and danger, wrapped in darkness and __silence__' Wel__l __congratulations__, __Bones__, __you __survived __the __first __year__. __McCoy __could __almost __hear __the __laugh __Jim __must__ have __laughed __as __he __wrote __it__. __Buckle __up__, '__cause __this __is__ far __from __over__. After __all__ one tiny crack in the hull and our blood boils in thirteen __seconds__… __Not__ to __mention __those __solar __flares__ which __might crop up__. And __despite __himself__, __McCoy __smiles__._

Jim stepped out on to the bridge of the ship and Jon glanced back at him and nodded in greeting, before turning his attention back to the view screen. Jim quietly made his way over and dropped into the navigator's seat beside Jon. He watched the stars zoom past them, the ship wasn't traveling as fast the Enterprise usually travelled, but Jim found some comfort in the familiar sight.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Jon asks, breaking the silence.

"Couldn't sleep if I tried," Jim mutters.

"Ah," Jon mutters knowingly. "If I had known, I would have picked up some painkillers you weren't allergic to."

Jim shakes his head. "The pain isn't the problem. I'm more than used to the pain… I had more than my fair share of it over the years, after all."

Jon grins slightly. "I've never meet someone quiet as able to attract trouble as you, so yes, I'd have to agree with you."

The two of them fall into a comfortable silence once more. Jim shifts in his seat as he tries to get more comfortable and knocks his broken wrist, causing himself to hiss sharply in pain. Jon snaps round to face him at the sound.

"You're injured." He accuses.

"No shit!" Jim exclaims. "I got shot remember."

"I'm not talking about that," Jon shakes his head, ignoring Jim's outburst. Jim only ever got defensive and lashed out when he was injured.

Jon had to admit it worked. When ever Jim got injured and didn't want people to know about it, he hauled insults at people and/or lashed out verbally with sarcasm or quick witted remarks, in an attempt to distract whoever it was from working out he was injured. Jon had witnessed Jim use that tactic hundreds of times, so he knew when Jim was deploying it.

"I may not be a doctor," Jon spoke up gently, after letting his gaze sweep over Jim. "But I know how to treat an injury or two. You're injured, Jim and you're aboard my ship and I'm the captain. I'd be in big trouble if I got caught with an injured, untreated civilian passenger aboard my ship, I doubt I have to tell you about the health and safety regulations. So just let me take a look, would you? It won't take long."

"Fine." Jim mutters, holding out his injured wrist. The last thing he wanted was for Jon to get in trouble on his behalf, cargo ship and passenger ships alike, could get stopped at random to ensure they were following the regulations.

Jon frowns as he examines Jim's wrist. "Why didn't you get Martha to treat this?"

"It slipped my mind." Jim shrugs. "At the time I was more worried about the bullet she was pulling out of me."

Jon shakes his head in disbelief. "Wait here, I'll just grab something to wrap that with."

"Where could I go?" Jim calls after Jon with a grin. "In case you hadn't noticed, we're on a ship in the middle of nowhere."

"You forget, I've seen you get out of more medical examinations and treatments than there are planets in the delta quadrant," Jon answers over his shoulder. "So I know you can quite literally disappear and go anywhere!"

XxX

"_**What's wrong with him?**_**" Elizabeth asked, as Dr Phlox run his medical scanner over JT again.**

**Dr Phlox raised an eyebrow at her. "Hasn't your mother told you to speak standard while in the company of humans?"**

"_**You're not human,**_**" Elizabeth answered. "**_**And JT speaks Vulcan.**_**"**

**The three of them were in T'Pol and Tucker's quarters. The room was an odd mix of both human and Vulcan interior design. There were Vulcan artefacts and relics, which were undamaged and well looked after alongside human trinkets and framed photos. Most of the surfaces in the room were covered in PADD's and odds and ends from engineering.**

**Dr Phlox often wondered who T'Pol dealt with Tucker. He was one of the most highly emotional humans Dr Phlox had ever worked with and he hardly ever cleaned up after himself. He left half completed projects lying around and cloths on the floor from his rush to change in the morning. He was often careless with his things, after all if anything got broken he could simply fix it.**

**It was almost the complete opposite to what he was like at work. Engineering was always spotless and everything was handled with care. Every project was completed and uncompleted work was taken over by the next person on shift. Nothing was left lying around and god forbid if Tucker found one of his engineers being careless and slacking off!**

"**Hmm," Dr Phlox hummed, as he looked at the medical scanners results before putting away the scanner.**

"_**What is wrong with him, Doctor?**_**" Elizabeth asked again.**

"**I do not know for certain," Dr Phlox answered, glancing at Elizabeth briefly. "It could be one of two things… It is possible JT is of Betazoid descent. Or it is possible the stress and trauma of what JT has suffered, triggered his latent abilities in a means to help him survive."**

"_**What abilities?**_**" Elizabeth asked, curious.**

"**Your mother believes JT has telepathic abilities," Dr Phlox explained. "When she first melded with him, she was forced to go through his memories of Tarsus in order to break him out of them. It seems JT heard the dying scream of Hoshi Sato telepathically, as there was no way even a Vulcan could have heard that scream from such a distance away and JT's companion at the time failed to hear it, so it would seem JT heard it telepathically. And now it seems JT is showing sign of empathic abilities."**

"_**Humans do not have telepathic abilities,**_**" Elizabeth replied. "**_**They are a psi-null species.**_**"**

"**On the contrary," Dr Phlox corrects her. "Some humans have been known to exhibit telepathic abilities. One of the most powerful and skilled telepathist's in history was a human women. It is simply uncommon for humans to have such abilities."**

**Before Elizabeth had a chance to answer, the door to the quarters they were in opened and T'Pol and Tucker joined by Archers, stepped into the room.**

"**How is he, Doctor?" Archer asked. **

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I hope I got the Trip/T'Pol dynamic right and a quick question: What would you prefer, for JT to be part Betazoid, or for him have latent telepathic abilities which were triggered by the stress and trauma of Tarsus IV? And sorry this chapter was slightly shorter than usual. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	56. Chapter 55

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Fifty-five:

**The first thing JT noticed when he regained consciousness was whatever he had been feeling earlier when he'd passed out in the Jeffries tube had stopped for the time being. Because the truth was JT had no idea what had happened or what had caused it. He had been feeling so many different emotions all at once it had been overwhelming and painful. **

**The second thing he noticed was the he was no longer in the said Jeffries tube, in fact he was lying in a bed and it was much larger and softer than the bio-beds in the medical bay. The material he could feel under him was quite possible the softest thing he had ever felt and the thick, but not overly warm blanket which covered him felt like home.**

**Home. **

**He had no idea where that thought had come from. The only place he had ever considered home, was his aunt and uncle's house. The farm house back in Iowa on Earth had never been home. Home was a place of love and safety and it had certainly never been that, thanks to Frank. So why did he think it felt like home?**

**The third thing he noticed was he wasn't alone. **

**There was someone nearby. **

**He could hear them breathing.**

**Opening his eyes, JT instantly shut them again as the low light of the room sent a spike of pain through his head. He groaned at the pain as he reached up and gripped his head. It hurt so much! He was used to getting migraines, but he'd never felt a headache quite like this before.**

"**Easy, kid," A voice nearby spoke with a thick Florida accent.**

**JT instantly tensed up at the sound of the voice. **

**He needed to get out now. **

**He needed to escape now. **

**They thought he was a monster and that he wasn't safe. He didn't want to get thrown in the brig. He just wanted to be safe. If he didn't move, if he didn't escape, what would they do to him? Would they do what Kodos had done? **

**But most importantly of all, he needed to find out what they had done to the others. If they thought he was a monster, there was no telling what they'd think of the others.**

"**Don't worry, I ain't gonna hurt ya," The voice, which JT identified as male, spoke again.**

**JT's heart began to beat faster, he could feel it hammering against his ribcage. He breathing began to come out it short and fast gasps. He couldn't catch his breath. He couldn't breathe. Eyes going wide, JT began to panic. **

**He couldn't breathe.**

**The male voice let out a curse. And then suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder, causing him to flinch at the contact.**

"**Phlox, get in 'ere," The male voice yelled. "He's havin' a panic attack!"**

**A wave of light headedness passed over JT suddenly and he was sure if he hadn't already been lying down, he would have fallen backwards. The hand on his shoulder began rubbing in small circles in an attempt to calm him down, but JT was panicking too much to even really feel it. **

**He still couldn't breathe!**

**The world around him was beginning to spin, it was making him dizzy and his stomach began to roll and he was sure he was going to be sick any second. And then nothing. The world stopped spinning and the dizziness and sickness passed. He could breathe again and unlike before there was a hand on each of his shoulders.**

**Looking up JT found the worried faces of Chief Engineer Tucker and the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Phlox staring at him. But there was no hate or disgust in their eyes, like he had expected to see, just worry and relief. **

XxX

_Jon shakes his head in disbelief. "Wait here, I'll just grab something to wrap that with."_

"_Where could I go?" Jim calls after Jon with a grin. "In case you hadn't noticed, we're on a ship in the middle of nowhere."_

"_You forget, I've seen you get out of more medical examinations and treatments than there are planets in the delta quadrant," Jon answers over his shoulder. "So I know you can quite literally disappear and go anywhere!"_

McCoy couldn't help but feel ill at ease as the turbo-lift doors open and he stepped out onto the bridge. Sitting in the Captain's chair was Spock, his dark hair and blue uniform looking out of place where blond and gold should have been. Even Spock looked slightly more tense than usual as he sat in the chair.

Much to McCoy's surprise, Scotty was on the bridge working away at something at the engineering station on the opposite side of the bridge to Uhura station. All the senior crew were there, having headed up to the bridge as soon as Spock had passed on the information Scotty had told him. It was a scary thought, to know another crewmember aboard the ship was working for Kodos.

To make it worse they had no idea who it was. The ship's security footage had been tampered with, so that offered no help. All the crews files had been read and approved by both Jim and Spock, so anything even slightly off about one of them would have been picked up on… And if one of them had been on Tarsus, Jim would no doubt have recognised them.

His personal file had revealed how close up he'd gotten to Kodos and his followers. He'd been captured twice whilst on the planet and been face to face with Kodos and his men more times than he should have been able to survive. And many of Kodos men and taken great pleasure in causing as much pain as possible, Jim's medical records showed that so McCoy doubted Jim would ever forget any of their faces.

Suddenly the ship rocked and alarms began sounding as the red alert began flashing. Before Spock could even open his mouth and request a damage report, the bridge was sent into almost complete darkness as the all lights switched off and everything powered down. Then just as quickly as it had happened the lights flickered back to on and everything switched back on.

"What just happened?!" McCoy demands.

"I do not know," Spock answers, turning his attention to Chekov and Sulu.

Sulu turns in his chair to face Spock, his eyes wide and slightly fearful.

"We've been locked out of the ships system's," Sulu explains. "None of the controls are working… Something has overridden and taken control of the systems."

Spock opens his mouth to replay when suddenly the screen in front of them flickers and a man's face appears. He smirks at them, causing a feeling of unease to pass through the command crew.

"_My, my,_" The man mocks. "_I expected more._"

McCoy glared at the man on the screen, there was something familiar about him but for the life of him McCoy couldn't work out why.

"Identify yourself." Spock orders his shoulders visibly tensing, he had a very good idea about who this man was.

"_I've gone by many names over the last few years,_" The man answers, the smirk never leaving his face. "_But I'm most well known as Kodos, the former governor of Tarsus IV._"

XxX

**JT sat at the table in T'Pol and Tucker's quarters, across from him sat Elizabeth and between them was a chess board. JT was attempting to teach Elizabeth how to play chess, which was harder than he had originally imagined it would be. But Elizabeth was quickly getting the hang of the game and JT knew it wouldn't be too long until their skills in the game would be evenly matched.**

**Across from them Archer was watching them play, a smile gracing his face as he sipped his coffee. JT had recovered quite well from the panic attack he had earlier, Dr Phlox had explained that panic attacks could be quite common for some people who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorders. **

**So Archer had volunteered to keep an eye on JT whilst T'Pol had to finish her shift and a complication in engineering had forced Tucker to leave in order to go and sort it out. Dr Phlox also had work to complete and none of them had wanted to leave JT on his own, so Archers who wasn't needed on shift again until the following day had volunteered.**

**But Archer could tell his presence was making JT uncomfortable. JT kept glancing at him out the corner of his eye every couple of seconds, like he was scared Archer was suddenly going to attack him. He kept shifting in his seat like he was preparing himself to run at a moment's notice, whatever JT had overheard in the medical bay really had affected him.**

**From what T'Pol and Dr Phlox had told him, Arched believed JT had suffered from a series of flashbacks triggered by whatever had been said by the engineer in the medical bay and flashbacks had been from his time on Tarsus IV, which couldn't have been pleasant in the least. **

**Dr Phlox had even said this incident would most likely set back JT's recovery. **

**All the trust they had earned was gone. **

**The sense of safety JT had felt aboard the ship was gone.**

**Everything they had worked to achieve had been destroyed in a couple of moments and it had almost been fatal for JT. All of three of them, T'Pol, Tucker and Dr Phlox, were keeping what had happened after JT had fled between themselves. All Archer knew was that it had been serious and that if Tucker hadn't found JT when he did, JT wouldn't be sitting teaching Elizabeth how to play chess like he was now… He'd most likely be in a coma, hooked up to countless machines in the medical bay.**

**Even now Eleanor was still hiding from the medical staff and the other six were still barricaded in their shared room. But Archer knew as soon as Dr Phlox cleared JT as completely healthy once more, T'Pol would take JT to sort it out.**

**It was only Tom, who still hadn't woken up since he'd been shot in the face whilst returning to the surface of Tarsus IV, who hadn't been affected by what ever that engineer had said. And Archer didn't know whether to be thankful or not for that.**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Latent telepathic abilities was the winner. Sorry it's taken me longer than usual to update this story. I had a minor case of writers block and I've been on holiday to Spain and didn't finish writing the chapter before I left. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	57. Chapter 56

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Fifty-six:

**JT sat on the bio-bed beside Eleanor as Dr Phlox checked her over. It hadn't taken long for JT to convince Eleanor to leave her hiding place, in fact he hadn't even needed to convince her at all. He had simply walked into the room where she was hiding, called her name and she had all but thrown herself into his arms and refused to let go of him as she cried and sobbed into his shoulder.**

**Once she had calmed down, the two of them had followed Dr Phlox to one of the other private rooms, which was next to the room Tom was currently being treated in. Dr Phlox believed it would be better if Eleanor was close to someone she was familiar with and once he was sure she was healthy and strong enough she could be roomed with the others full-time.**

"**Well young lady," Dr Phlox said to Eleanor. "You're in almost perfect health. A few more days in here for observation and you'll be free to join the others. You've recovery is quite impressive, I must say."**

**Eleanor turned and beamed at JT, who couldn't help but smile back. **

**Out of all of them Kev and Eleanor were the two he was the most closest to and Eleanor had stuck close to JT ever since he had saved her in the compound, after finding her being held in the arms of her dead mother. **

**Tom and JT had been close, as JT had known him the longest but he had a connection with Kev and Eleanor which he couldn't explain.**

"**Hey, Eleanor," JT muttered. "Wait here for a minute, I just want to go and see Tom for a second."**

**Eleanor nodded and JT jumped down from the bio-bed and made his way out the medical room and into the one next door. JT stopped in the doorway and started at Tom's still, resting form. He was hooked up to countless wires and machines and the monitor over his head flashed every now and again, but his heart beat was steady and strong.**

**Slowly JT walked closer to bio-bed and eventually stopped beside it. He started down at Tom, who looked pale and it reminded JT of the paleness of Tom skin when he had collapsed beside his body having killed Kodos' men after seeing Tom had been shot and believing him to be dead. **

**Only this time there wasn't any blood and Tom's chest was visibly rising and falling as he breathed with the aid of a machine. Half Tom's face was hidden beneath thick bandages and JT didn't need Dr Phlox to tell him that even with the great advances of modern medicine, there was very little that could be done to repair that type of wound. **

**Tom's face would always carrying the scarring and JT also knew there was a very good chance Tom had lost his eye which was closest to where he'd been shot and there was a chance he'd be disfigured too. The shot had damaged the bone structure of that side of his face and only so much could be done to fix it and that kind of treatment took years to be completed.**

**And JT couldn't help but blame himself for what had happened to Tom and the officers who had been killed. If he hadn't let Tom talk him into going back to his old house, to see if any personal items could be recovered, this never would have happened. **

**If when Tom had admitted he couldn't go back into his old home, JT had refused as well, they would have been back on the ship and safe. Tom wouldn't have nearly died and those Starfleet officers who had gone with them wouldn't have been killed by Kodos' men.**

**He would never have had to kill those men either.**

**JT stumbled backwards away from Tom's bed, as the memory of killing those men flashed through his mind.**

**He had killed them… No! He had murdered them!**

**They had tried to kill Tom, JT had believed they had at the time and he had murdered them. **

**He was thirteen years old and he was a murderer.**

XxX

"_Identify yourself." Spock orders his shoulders visibly tensing, he had a very good idea about who this man was._

"_I've gone by many names over the last few years," The man answers, the smirk never leaving his face. "But I'm most well known as Kodos, the former governor of Tarsus IV."_

"Morning, Kev," Jim greets cheerfully as Kev sits down heavily in the seat beside him.

Kevin yawns and glances at Jim, "You know when I first woke up, I thought I was back in my quarters aboard the Enterprise and all of this had just been a dream… How I wish this was all just a terrifying dream."

"A nightmare, you mean," Jim grins at him, holding out a cup of questionable coloured liquid.

Kevin takes the cup and swirls the liquid whilst pulling a face at it.

"Do I even want to know what this is?" He finally asks, looking up at Jim.

"What it comes to things found aboard Jon's ship, I find its best not to ask," Jim answers, taking a sip from his cup. "Hmmm… Tastes like Targ blood."

Kevin stares at Jim, "What?!"

Jim just grins at him and takes another sip from his cup.

"What's a Targ?" Kevin asks after a moment, staring at the liquid in his cup.

"There a bit like boars," Jim answers. "Just the Klingon version. There a bit more… Spiky and a hell of a lot more dangerous, but the domesticated ones are slightly more friendlier than the wild ones."

"How do you even know-" Kevin cuts himself off with a shake of his head. "Actually I don't want to know."

Jim laughs causing Martha to give him a weird look as the joins them at the table.

"How you can laugh at a time like this, I'll never know," Martha shakes her head slightly.

"A time like this?" Jim asks.

Martha stares at him, "You were kidnapped and left to die a slow and painful death by someone working for Kodos, who turns out to still be alive and if that wasn't bad enough, it turns out people within Starfleet knew about it! In fact a few of them were even working with him!"

"Is that true?!" Kevin demands, turning to Jim.

"Admiral Marcus," Jim answers with a node, picking up his cup to take another sip.

"No," Martha shakes her head. "I'm not talking about Alexander Marcus… I'm talking about Number One."

Jim chokes on his drink at the mention of Number One.

"What?" Jim finally gasps out. "Can you say that again, because for a moment there I thought you said Number One!"

Martha frowns at Jim, "I did say Number One."

"Number One as in, Head of Starfleet Intelligence Number One?" Jim asks.

"Yes," Martha nodes.

Jim goes pale.

"JT, what's wrong?" Kevin asks, worried.

"Number One… She's my godmother." Jim finally answers.

The silence which suddenly filled the room was deafening.

XxX

**JT sat with his forehead resting against the cool transparent aluminium of the observation decks window, watching the stars as they passed. He had tears running down from his eyes but he didn't bother to wipe them away. The women from engineering had been right, he was dangerous. He had killed people.**

**JT didn't bother to look round at the sound of a door sliding open on the opposite side of the deck, or the near silent footsteps which made their way towards him, in fact he barely noticed them. He just wanted to be left alone. **

**How could people even stand to be around him, knowing what he had done? If anyone else had done what he had just done, they would have been put on trial in court, found guilty of murder and been locked away.**

**So why hadn't that happened to him? **

**He'd seen stories of child murderers and how they were found guilty and sent to prison just like adults were. The only difference was, they had a special kind of prison for children who committed crimes like that and it was far worse than juvie and it had far more security.**

**Maybe they thought what he had done was different. Kodos' men had been hunting them down like animals, maybe they believed he had acted in self-defence. But after he'd seen what he believed was Tom's dead body, JT had wanted nothing more than to kill them and make them pay for what they had done!**

**A hand landed on his shoulder, with a gentleness JT wasn't used to. He turned and moved back with lightning speed as he prepared to attack whoever it was, his hand already reaching for the knife he still had hidden in his boot. It was a flight or fight response Tarsus had turned into a deadly skill.**

**JT only just managed to stop himself from drawing his knife as he saw the person who had startled him was T'Pol, which explained the near silent footsteps. **

**All JT could do was curse himself. He had let himself become distracted, lost in his own thoughts. If he'd still been on Tarsus and T'Pol had been one of Kodos' men, he'd be dead right now.**

"**I apologise," T'Pol spoke, keeping her voice low as not to scare JT anymore. "It was not my intention to startle you."**

**JT nodded, but kept his body tense and ready to jump into action at a moment's notice. T'Pol raised an eyebrow slightly as she saw the tears rolling down JT's cheeks, but she did not comment on them.**

"**What are you doing here?" JT finally asked.**

"**Elizabeth was concerned when you did not return," T'Pol explained. "She claimed you had promised her you would return to finish the game of chess you had been playing."**

**JT looked away, "She doesn't need a friend like me. I'm dangerous. I've killed people. I'm a monster. I don't deserve to be here… So many people more deserving of life than me, died on that planet. This universe doesn't need more people like me, it already has enough monsters as it is."**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I finally completed 'AOS: Where No Man Has Gone Before'! For anyone who is interested 'AOS: The Naked Time' has been posted. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	58. Chapter 57

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Fifty-seven:

**They were less than a day away from Earth when Tom finally woke up.**

**And less than an hour away from entering the Earth's solar system when an explosion of unknown origin sent the ship crashing out of warp…**

**The ship shook and alarms began sounding and JT was sent crashing to the floor from the chair he was sitting in beside Tom's bed. The violent motion woke Tom who had fallen back to sleep. He'd been sleeping quite a lot, but Dr Phlox had reassured JT that it was perfectly normal for someone recovering from such a serious injury to sleep as much as Tom was.**

"**JT…" Tom mumbled. "What's happening?"**

"**I don't know, Tom," JT answered, picking himself up from off the floor.**

**The lights flickered slightly and broken static sounded over the intercom.**

**Suddenly Dr Phlox entered the room, looking slightly panicked and highly alarmed. He quickly checked the medical equipment Tom was hooked up to, before turning to JT.**

"**You need to return to your room," Dr Phlox told him, there was a hint of something in his voice but JT couldn't work out what it was. "Do not leave your room until the Captain has declared it safe."**

"**Why can't I stay here with Tom?" JT questioned.**

"**You can ask Captain Archer that later," Dr Phlox told him. "Now go."**

**JT nodded to Tom before hurrying out of the room and ducking around the medical staff who were rushing around, preparing for the incoming injured crewmembers. **

**His room was technically T'Pol and Tucker's quarters, but that wasn't where he was heading. **

**He was going to where the others were. **

**He didn't know why or how, but he could feel Eleanor panicking, he needed to get to her and the others and make sure they were safe. He had no idea what was happening, but whatever it was, it wasn't good.**

**JT sprinted along the hallways, hardly looking at the walking wounded heading towards the medical bay he had just come from, but what he could tell from the injuries of the crewmembers he did glance at, heat had been a big part of what had caused their injuries. They were covered in painful looking burns and well as cuts which could have been caused by flying debris.**

**Maybe there had been an explosion in engineering.**

**But the only two coloured uniforms JT had seen so far was blue, with a few gold uniforms thrown into the mix.**

**Maybe something had gone wrong in the science department.**

**JT turned a corner and stopped dead in his tracks. **

**Armed men wearing masks were making their way along the hallway. **

**The worst part was JT knew those masks. **

**They were the same masks Kodos' men had warn. **

**And suddenly it all made perfect sense to JT. **

**There had been no accident in the science department, this had been the work of Kodos' men. **

**Turning round, JT run as fast as could. **

**He was just glad he memorised the ships blueprints, because Kodos' men could only be here for one reason and that was to kill him and the others. JT turned down another hallway and run even faster, all he could do was prey he made it to the others first.**

XxX

"_JT, what's wrong?" Kevin asks, worried._

"_Number One… She's my godmother." Jim finally answers._

_The silence which suddenly filled the room was deafening._

Kodos could only smirks as the command crew of the Enterprise, minus their Captain, were made to kneel before him by his men. The Enterprise was in orbit around the planet they were currently on and the crew were prisoners aboard their own ship.

In Kodos opinion it had been far too easy to hack into the ships' computer and take control of the vessel. But then he had people working for him aboard the ship and the unwilling help of one who knew James Tiberius Kirk best… Or should he call him JT?

"What an honour," Kodos proclaims. "The command crew of Starfleet's greatest ship, here as my own personal guests. I am truly honoured."

The only sound which reached Kodos ears was angry, muffled curses. Well he guessed they were curses, it really was hard to tell seeing as he had ordered the command crew to be gagged. He didn't want their complaints to ruin his little show.

"What was that?" Kodos mocks. "You'll have to speak more clearly, I can't understand you."

If looks could kill, Kodos would have been six feet under with the look Dr McCoy was sending his way. Kodos just smirks and turns his attention to what appeared to be a cinema screen at the far side of the room.

"It seems we have time to check in and see how your friends are doing," Kodos smirks and the screen flickers to life… Only to reveal a cell holding six skeletons and one decomposing body.

A look of pure fury passes over Kodos face.

"Where are they?!" Kodos demands, turning towards one of his men, who flinches back in fear in the face of Kodos' anger.

"Th-they escaped, s-sir," The man stutters out.

"When?!" Kodos was getting more and more furious by the second.

"Y-y-yesterday," The man finally manages to answer.

Kodos pulls a gun from under his coat and shots the man.

The body hits the floor and he turns away to face a group of his men who had just entered the room.

"Find them!" Kodos bellows. "Kill _Kev _if you have to, but bring me _JT_ alive."

Quickly Kodos men flee the room to carry out Kodos' orders.

"And someone clean up this mess," Kodos orders, turning back to the body and nudging it with the toe of his boot. "It's making the place look untidy and we must be prepare for the arrival of our special guest."

Kodos turned towards the command crew of the Enterprise, smirking and the horror and disgust which showed on most of their faces.

Oh yes, he was looking forward to this a lot.

XxX

"**You need to hide now!" JT ordered as he burst into the room the others were in.**

"**What's going on, JT?" Kev asked.**

"**Kodos' men," JT answered, holding Kev's gaze. "They're here. They're aboard the ship."**

**Kev shook his head, "No, they can't be!"**

"**They're here, Kev," JT repeats. "I've seen them."**

"**What do we do?" Kev questioned. "No matter where we hide on this ship, they'll be able to find us… We have nowhere to run."**

"**Just hide," JT reassured him. "I'll take care of it. They won't find you, I won't let them."**

"**What about Tom?" Kev suddenly exclaimed.**

"**He's still in the medical bay," JT replied. "He'll be fine there, Dr Phlox won't let any harm come to him."**

"**Where do we hide?" Kev asked.**

"**Elizabeth told me there's a secret passage to engineering," JT answered. "But I don't think it's an actual passage. According to the ships blueprints there is a narrow gap of empty space running from the upper decks to engineering."**

**Kev nodded, "How do we get to it?" **

**He appeared calm, but JT could tell he was frightened, they all were. **

**They had finally believed they were safe, only to find they weren't and any second now Kodos' men could burst through the door and kill each and every one of them. **

**Because Kev was right, on this ship they had nowhere to run. **

**They couldn't escape.**

**They were trapped.**

"**One of the entrances isn't far from here," JT explained. "It's through an air vent at the end of the corridor."**

"**What about the ships' computer?" Kev frowned. "Can't it locate us?"**

"**I'll take care of it," JT promised. "Now come on, we need to get moving!"**

**JT quickly lead the way out of the room and down the hallway to the air vent. He quickly reached up to the vent and pulled the grid covering the entrance free of the wall. He could only be thankful that the vent was midway down the wall and within reaching distance.**

"**Quickly," JT ordered.**

**Kev was the first to climb through. He nearly got stuck part way through, the gap was so small, but he made it through. Once he was through, JT helped the others up whilst Kev pulled them through from the other side. **

**Finally JT was the only one left standing in the corridor.**

"**JT," Kev sounded desperate. "What are you waiting for? Come on!"**

"**Kev," JT shook his head. "I won't fit through the gap."**

"**JT!" Kev exclaimed, as JT picked up the grid and re-placed it over the entrance to the air vent, before running off with one last smile at Kev.**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry this chapter is slightly shorter than usual. Wow, one hundred and one reviews, thanks everyone! Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	59. Chapter 58

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Fifty-eight:

**JT stood in front of the computer in Captain Archer's quarters. He had already hacked past Archer's password, which really wasn't that hard at all in JT's opinion and was in the process of altering the ships' in-ship sensors. He refused to let Kodos' men find the others, so he was going to make sure that they didn't.**

**But what he was attempting to do was complicated and he wasn't sure he'd be able to do it.**

**He was trying to create a false reading, which would appear to be the others when Kodos' men questioned the ships' computer on the whereabouts of the others and move around the ship keeping Kodos' men away from where the others were actually hiding and leading them on a wild goose chase at the same time.**

**If he simply stopped the computer from being able to locate the others, Kodos' men would work out what he had done and they might be able to reverse it, especially if any of them knew how to hack into a computer… And if they didn't they'd probably find a crewmembers who could and hold them at gunpoint until they undid JT's work.**

**And from what JT had seen Kodos' men do, they'd probably kill that crewmembers as soon as they were no longer of any use. **

**But if they thought they were chasing the others around the ship, they might not work out what JT had done and the others would be safe. The only problem he had was time. The code he was creating took time to type and upload.**

**And it was time he didn't have.**

**JT was typing as fast as he dared, but one mistake would render the whole code useless and then his plan wouldn't work. **

**The others would be found and killed. **

**All they did to try and survive on Tarsus would be for nothing.**

**They would have survived the massacre only to be killed less than a day away from Earth and the safety it offered.**

**Finally after what seemed to be a lifetime to JT, he completed the code and uploaded it into the ships' computer system. The screen flickered for a moment before an alert came up telling JT the upload had been successful.**

**JT breathed a sigh of relief before the sound of someone trying to break down the door to quarters he was in made him jump.**

**He could hear shouting from the other side of the door and he knew without a doubt it was Kodos' men. He had been so worried about protecting the others, he had forgotten about himself. Looking around for a way to escape, JT spotted an air vent on the wall above Archer's bed which was large enough for him to climb through.**

**Without wasting a second more, JT ran across the room and jumped onto Archer's bed. It took him less than a minute to get the vent cover off of the wall and by the time Kodos' men finally broke through the door, JT was long gone.**

XxX

_Kodos turned towards the command crew of the Enterprise, smirking and the horror and disgust which showed on most of their faces._

_Oh yes, he was looking forward to this a lot._

Jon switched off the ships engine, having successful docked at one of the Starbases many docking ports.

They had finally made it.

Jon was still having a hard time believing they had actually made it. The entire journey he had been expecting Kodos' men to catch up with them and blast them and the ship to pieces.

But it was far from over yet.

News had spread that the command crew of the Enterprise had been taken hostage and when Jim had heard the news, he had simple got up and left the bridge and Jon hadn't seen hide nor hair of him since. The only reason Jon knew he was still aboard was because Kevin had appeared on the bridge with orders to increase their speed from Jim, an order Jon was more than happy to follow.

Leaving the bridge, Jon jumps as he finds Jim leaning against the wall waiting for him.

"Number One is here," Jim sounds less than pleased.

Jon stares at him trying to understand how Jim wasn't running around panicking. Thanks to Martha they knew Number One was working with Kodos.

"We should leave," Jon turns back toward the bridge. "We need to leave."

Jim shakes his head and steps away from the wall and grabs Jon's arm stopping him.

"I need to see her," Jim explains. "I need to talk to her."

"What if she hands you over to Kodos?" Jon points out.

"She won't," Jim answers.

"How can you be so sure?" Jon demands.

"She wouldn't risk it," Jim answers with a slight smirk.

"Why?" Jon frowns.

"Number One is the head of Starfleet intelligence," Jim answers. "I used to work for her, I sort of still do. And while I worked for her, I was sent to investigate a project Admiral Marcus had been working on after the control of Section 31 was handed over to him…"

Jim pauses for a moment, "Admiral Marcus needed to start a war, it was part of the plan he and the other four members of the Five had… But he needed to lay down groundwork first… If the public ever found out Starfleet received a distress call from Taurus IV and ignored it because they thought it was a prank, or if they ever found out it was a Starfleet vessel which introduced the fungus to Tarsus IV, it'd destroy Starfleet… But if a certain race of beings ever found out about what Section 31 did a few years after what happened on Tarsus IV, the entire Federation would be obliterated!"

All Jon can do is stare at Jim.

"Number One would never hand me over to Kodos for that reason alone," Jim carries on. "If Kodos ever found out about what Section 31 did, he'd be more than happy to put that information to use. He may have been working with Admiral Marcus, but he never knew about what Section 31 did under his command and it has to stay that way."

"That means nothing," Jon points out. "Kodos wants you dead."

Jim shakes his head, "Kodos wants us to suffer the most painful and prolonged deaths possible. If he just wanted to kill me and Kev, he would have just killed us, not left us locked in a room to slowly starve to death… If Kodos catches us, he's going to gloat about it, then he's going to torture us to death. And I know from experience, everyone has a breaking point and once you reach that point you'll say anything to make it stop."

XxX

**JT dropped down into an empty hallway and looked round, he wasn't far from T'Pol and Tucker's shared quarters. There was no sign of Kodos' men, but that didn't do much to reassure JT. As long as Kodos' men were still aboard the ship, he and the other would never be completely safe, not to mention the crew of the ship.**

**Security were no doubt tracking Kodos' men down and apprehending them, but if the echoing sounds of phaser fire and gun fire had been any indication when he been climbing through the ships network of Jefferies tubes and ventilation shafts, there was going to casualties and it was going to take security a while to apprehend them all.**

**Moving quickly, JT hurried down the hallway towards T'Pol and Tucker's quarters. He turned a corner and crashed into Elizabeth.**

"**Elizabeth!" JT exclaimed, as he stumbled backwards before regaining his balance.**

**But Elizabeth didn't answer, she just grabbed JT's hand and dragged him along the hallway in the direction she had come from. They turned another corner and JT froze. Lying on the ground further down the hallway from where JT was standing was Tucker, even from the distance he was at, he could see the blood pooling around Tucker's body.**

**JT cursed under his breath and pulled his hand from Elizabeth's. He run forward and skidded to his knees beside Tucker. Tucker had a bullet wound in his shoulder and from what JT could tell the bullet had gone straight through his shoulder and out the other side.**

"**Elizabeth," JT spoke in standard rather than Vulcan like he usually did when speaking to her. "Give me your scarf."**

**Elizabeth who had approached them, quickly pulled off her Vulcan styled head scarf and handed it to JT, who took it and tied it around Tucker's wound as tightly as he could. The sound of gun fire from a hallway not far from them caught JT's attention as he sat back on his heels and the sound of shooting was heading their direction.**

"**Elizabeth," JT said turning towards her. "I need you to keep as much pressure on this wound as you can."**

**Elizabeth just started at JT, but didn't move.**

"**Elizabeth," JT snapped. "If you don't so this, he'll die."**

**Elizabeth dropped to her knees beside JT and reached forward, her hands were shaking.**

"**Elizabeth, I know this is going to be hard," JT placed a hand on her shoulder. "But you have to do this… T'Pol has taught you how to shield you mind, right?"**

**Elizabeth nodded and pressed her hands to Tucker's wound.**

**JT glanced towards the end of the hallway. **

**He knew what he had to do.**

**He quickly got to his feet and began walking towards the end of the hallway. The sound of gunfire was getting closer. He stopped at the end of the hallway and looked right, at the end of the hallway a group of Kodos' men were heading towards him, weapons at the ready and behind them lying on the floor, JT could see the red shirted uniforms of those who worked in security.**

"**Hey! Assholes!" JT yelled at them. "I'm over here!"**

**And JT turned and ran.**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Anyone got any ideas for what I can name Kodos' second in command? I haven't decided if they're going to be female or male yet, so it'll probably be decided when I find a name that fits, so let me know if you've got any ideas. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	60. Chapter 59

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Fifty-nine:

**T'Pol gripped the edge of her station on the bridge, with strength enough to buckle the metal. She could hear Captain Archer calling to her, asking her if she was okay, but all she could focus on was the intense pain shooting through her body from her shoulder. Reaching up with a slightly shaking hand, she felt her shoulder, but there was no wound.**

**It was only then she realised that the pain was coming from the bond she shared with Trip Tucker.**

**A hand landed on her shoulder, snapping her out of her pain induced daze. **

**Archer was looking at her with concern.**

"**Are you alright, T'Pol?" Archer asked.**

"**Trip," She answered. "He is injured… I must go to him."**

**T'Pol got up from her seat and headed straight towards the turbo-lift.**

"**T'Pol!" Archer called after her, but she didn't stop.**

**Once she was in the turbo-lift and the door had slid shut behind her, T'Pol shut her eyes and tried to even her breathing which had become erratic in response to the pain she could feel flowing through the bond. **

**Rather than attempting to close her side of the bond and block out Trip's pain, she tried to ease his pain and sent comforting thoughts through the bond. And much to her dismay, she could feel Trip respond to her, but rather than accept her attempts to ease his pain, he tried to shield her from the pain he was feeling. **

**If T'Pol had been human she would have yelled at him for being so stupid. For a psi-null human it was incredibly hard to block a bond such as the one she and Trip had, so to do so used a lot of energy.**

**Energy Trip should have been using to try and keep himself alive until she reached him.**

**Once the turbo-lift doors open, T'Pol wasn't ashamed to admit she ran. She followed the tug of her bond with Trip and it lead her straight to him.**

**The first thing she noticed was the blood on the floor around Trip's body.**

**The second thing she noticed was their daughter keeping her blood covered hands pressed to Trip's wounded shoulder.**

**T'Pol was kneeling beside her daughter before she even realised what she was doing. She reached forward with a trembling hand and placed her fingers to Trip's meld points. Their minds joined in one fluid motion, they were that familiar with each other's minds. **

**Much to T'Pol's relief Trip mind was still strong with life. His life wasn't beginning to slip away yet, there was still time. But he was losing blood and fast. If he wasn't treated soon... **

**Without wasting another second, T'Pol picked Trip up and hurried towards the medical bay.**

**So help anyone who got in her way.**

XxX

_Jim shakes his head, "Kodos wants us to suffer the most painful and prolonged deaths possible. If he just wanted to kill me and Kev, he would have just killed us, not left us locked in a room to slowly starve to death… If Kodos catches us, he's going to gloat about it, then he's going to torture us to death. And I know from experience, everyone has a breaking point and once you reach that point you'll say anything to make it stop."_

Kodos steps into the darkened cell, he walks forward and smirks at the way the figure hidden in the shadows flinches away from him.

"I'll make this quick," Kodos told them, pulling a knife from his belt. "Tell me what I want to know and you will suffer less."

"What do you want to know?" The person managed to choke out, their throat was so dry it was hard to talk.

"Just a little information on a couple of friends of yours," Kodos stops before them. "_JT_ and _Kev_ have escaped-"

The figure lets out a raspy breath, which was their attempt at laughter.

Kodos strikes them, sending their head crashing back into the wall. He lent forward so his lips were beside the persons ear.

"The only reason you are still alive is because you are still of some use to me," Kodos hisses. "The moment you are no longer of any use to me, I will kill you… And once you're dead, our little deal will be over. Your wife is such a pretty little thing, I'll take great pleasure in killing her."

The person flinches slightly and Kodos smirks even wider, before stepping back.

"Now that we understand each other," Kodos continues, tracing the tip of his blade down the edge of the person cheek. "Tell me, what will _JT_ do next?"

"He's going to make you pay," The person answers.

"That's not good enough," Kodos snaps, digging the tip of the knife into the side of their face, but only hard enough to break the top layer of skin. "What is he going to do?"

"He's going to come for you, Kodos," They answer. "And if you're lucky, he'll kill you…"

Kodos lets out a laugh, "_JT _won't kill me. I have his crew… If he kills me, he'll never see any of them again."

"Then you are a fool," They reply. "You should have left them well alone. It's bad enough you threatened the life of Kev, but to threaten his crew too…"

They shake their head and let out another raspy laugh.

"JT is going to come for you," They finally continue. "And he's isn't going to kill you… He's going to do something far worse."

"What is he going to do?" Kodos demands, pushing the edge of the knife deeper into their skin and watching with a sick satisfaction as blood runs down their skin.

"He's going to feed you to the wolves," They laugh.

Kodos pulls the knife away and turns and heads towards the door. He stops beside one of his men and stares at them for a moment.

"I want answers," Kodos informs them. "But play nice, I still need him alive for the time being."

Kodos smirks as he walks away down the corridor to the sounds of pained screams.

XxX

**Lieutenant Reed hurried along the hallways of the ship, behind him his security team had their weapons ready. According to the PADD in Reed's hand, the men they were chasing were heading towards the shuttle bay. **

**But that wasn't all the PADD showed.**

**They had JT.**

**As soon as that information had come up on the PADD, Reed had changed tactics immediately. Rather than chasing the men down and attacking form behind, catching them unaware; they were going to try and cut them off before they reached the shuttle bay. This would mean they would be facing them head on and they would no longer have the advantage of surprise on their side.**

**They turned down another hallway and the entrance to the shuttle bay came into view and by the looks of it they were too late. The warning light above the entrance to the shuttle bay was flashing, meaning the bay doors were about to be opened and that a shuttle was either leaving or about to enter.**

**But Reed knew it wasn't the latter.**

"**Unauthorised personnel in shuttle bay two," An alert sounded.**

**Reed let out a curse. **

**How had the computer only just picked up on that? That type alert should have sounded the moment the men they were chasing entered the shuttle bay. One of the security team moved forward to override the door before them, but Reed quickly stopped him.**

"**Shuttle bay doors opening," Another alert sounded.**

"**If you open that door, we'll all get sucked out into space," Reed told him.**

"**But, sir-"**

**Suddenly the ship rocked, cutting off what they were about to say and a flash lit up the hallway from the observation widow not far from where Reed and the security team were standing.**

"**Shuttle bay doors compromised," A third alert sounded.**

**Pushing past his security team, Reed headed to the observation window which over looked the shuttle bay. The shuttle bay doors leading out into space had been heavily damaged and were unable to close, shuttle number two was also missing.**

**Reed shut his eyes.**

**They were gone and they had taken JT with them.**

**And they had ensured nobody could follow them.**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry this chapter is slightly shorter than usual, the next chapter will hopefully be longer. And thank you, owtena, for the name suggestion. Anyone want to take a wild guess on who Kodos' prisoner might be? Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	61. Chapter 60

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Sixty:

**T'Pol stood at Trip's bedside, with her hands behind her back, looking down at his unconscious form. He was too still and it was making her uneasy. She was used to the constant energy Trip always seemed to have, he never seemed to stay still for very long. He would away be doing something, whether it was fixing something, or pacing around the bridge or simply drumming his fingers on a table in the mess hall as he ate.**

**He always seemed to moving, even if other never noticed it the way she had.**

**Now he lay completely still, aside from the even rising and falling of his chest as he breathed. Even when he was asleep he was never that still. His eyes would move below his eyelids and his hands and feet would twitch and he'd mumble words she could never make out as he dreamed.**

**Even his mind was quiet.**

**There were no thoughts and emotions brushing against her shields. The background murmur of his thoughts no longer threatened to distract her from her work. His beautiful, but at times seemingly chaotic, mind was silent.**

**Dr Phlox had reassured her that he was fine. That his body simply needed time to recover before he woke. Being shot was a traumatic experience for the body and even though the wound was in the process of being healed by one of Dr Phlox's many… Pets, Trip probably wouldn't awaken for another day or two.**

"**How is he, T'Pol?" Archer asked, having entered the Medical Bay and made his way over to her side.**

"**Dr Phlox believes he will recover fully," T'Pol answered. "But he will be unable to determine if the bullet has caused any permanent nerve damage until Trip wakes."**

**Archer nodded but didn't say anything, he simply looked down at Trip, the man he proudly called his best friend and loved like a brother. When T'Pol had left the bridge claiming Trip was injured, Archer had almost followed her, but his duty as captain meant his crew had to come first and so he had to stayed on the bridge.**

**The door to the Medial Bay slides open and Lieutenant Reed stepped in.**

"**Captain," Lieutenant Reed called across to him. "May I have a word?"**

**Archer turned towards him, "Of course."**

**Lieutenant Reed gestured towards Dr Phlox's private office and Archer made his way over to it and entered, with Lieutenant Reed close behind him. Dr Phlox looked up from his desk, where he was working on something.**

"**Captain Archer," Dr Phlox greeted. "Lieutenant Reed. If there something I can help you with."**

"**Yes," Lieutenant Reed answered. "It's about James Kirk."**

"**What about him?" Dr Phlox asked, worry entering his tone.**

"**I have reason to believe the men who attacked and boarded our ship worked for the late Governor Kodos," Lieutenant Reed explained. "We were unable to stop them from escaping."**

"**Alright," Archer nodded slightly. "But what does this have to do with JT?"**

"**When they escaped from this ship, they had James with them," Reed answered. **

XxX

_Kodos pulls the knife away and turns and heads towards the door. He stops beside one of his men and stares at them for a moment._

"_I want answers," Kodos informs them. "But play nice, I still need him alive for the time being."_

_Kodos smirks as he walks away down the corridor to the sounds of pained screams._

"James!" A voice calls after Jim as he walks along a hallway towards a meeting room.

Jim glanced over his shoulder and quickly picks up his pace when he's sees it's his godmother.

"James!" She calls again, walking at a faster pace to catch up with him.

Jim stops and turns towards her, as she grabs hold of his arm.

"Number One," He greets coldly.

Number One sighs, "James you have to understand, it was for the best."

"How can working with that monster be for the best?!" Jim demands.

"When I first Kodos, I had no idea who he truly was," Number One answers. "He went by the name Anton Karidian-"

"You are the Head of Starfleet Intelligence," Jim cuts her off. "I don't believe you were fooled by something as simple as a change of name… He still looks the same, Number One! As soon as I saw a picture of him, I knew who he was. So don't try and tell me you had no idea!"

"He was dead, James!" Number One snaps, finally losing her cool. "Every report I received from Tarsus IV told me Governor Kodos was dead! I wasn't about to accuse a man of committing mass genocide because he looked like a man I had believed to be dead!"

"So just because you're told someone is dead doesn't mean they are," Jim argues. "They never got a positive identification on his body… When Tom used to tell me Kodos was still alive, I never used to believe him because I didn't want to believe him… I wanted that part of my life to be over and Kodos still being alive would have meant it wasn't. Thinking Kodos was dead was closure on that part of my life and now all I can think about is what a fool I have been to have never believed him...

"Maybe if I had listened, me and Kiev wouldn't be the last two of the Tarsus Nine still alive. But you don't have the excuse! How many of the criminals and terrorists that you keep tabs on, have changed their names, huh? How many of them have faked their deaths? Some of them have even had surgery to change the way they look and yet you were still able to find them. But Kodos was right in front of you and you did nothing!"

"It wasn't as simple as that, James," Number One defends herself. "What do you think would have happened if the Federation had found out Kodos was still alive? It would have been chaos!"

"So you're telling me you did nothing to save face?!" Jim shakes his head. "You let _Kodos the Executioner_, go free just to save face in the eyes of Federation!"

"It wasn't-" Number One begins.

"If you say 'It wasn't as simple as that' one more time…" Jim glares at her. "The Federation didn't even need to know he was still alive, you could have had one of your many highly trained agents take him out, but you didn't. You just let him go, even worked with him!"

"I'm sorry, James," Number One mutters. "I truly am."

"Sorry isn't going to bring the others back from the dead, is it?!" Jim turns away. "They're dead Number One and their blood is on your hands. And now thanks to you, Kodos has my crew."

XxX

**Number One stood in front of the window in her office, hardly paying attention to the view before her, she was deep in thought. The ship her godson was returning on Earth on was only a matter of hours away from arriving and she still had no idea how to approach the situation concerning what to do with him once he had been returned planet side.**

**She had promised his mother she would look after him and so far she had failed, but the past was the past and Number One knew she couldn't change it. All that mattered now was what she was going to do next and for the first time in her life she had no idea what to do… Which scared her. **

**Before she had become head of Starfleet Intelligence, she had been Captain Pike's First Officer. It had been the Captain's first mission as Captain and he had relied on her support quite often. Never once had she been unsure in what to do and no matter what challenge or dilemma was placed before her, she always knew what to do and how to solve it.**

**And now…**

**A knock on the door to her office broke her out of her thoughts and she quickly turned away from the window and moved over to her desk.**

"**Enter," She called out, as she took a seat at her desk.**

**Her secretary entered.**

"**Madam," Her secretary greeted nervously. "I have just received news from Starfleet Command…"**

**Number One raised an eyebrow as she waited for her secretary to continue.**

"**It's about JT, ma'am," They finally continue. "He's been… Taken."**

"**Taken?" Number One repeated.**

"**Yes, ma'am," They nodded. "The ship was attacked and he was taken."**

**Number One froze. **

**Her godson had been kidnapped.**

"**You may leave," Number One muttered.**

"**But ma'am-"**

"**I said leave!" Number One snapped uncharacteristically.**

**Number One's secretary took a step back in alarm, before their eyes softened in understanding.**

"**I'll make sure you are left undisturbed, ma'am," They informed Number One as they headed towards the door.**

**Number One looked up and nodded, "Thank you."**

"**You are welcome, ma'am," They nodded as they stopped by the door. "Would you like me to reschedule this afternoon's meetings for later this week?"**

"**Please," Number One nodded.**

"**I'll get straight to it, ma'am," They smiled as they left the room, shutting the door behind them.**

**As soon as the door closed, Number One shut her eyes and took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her heart was racing in her chest, almost painfully so, as she thought of the danger her godson was now in.**

**Once again she had failed him.**

**Number One got to her feet and began pacing up and down with her hands locked behind her back. She may have appeared as calm and collected, but internationally she was panicking. And it was in that moment that she finally decided what she was going to do.**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for the reviews! And Hades' Neko, I'm afraid you won't find out if you're right until a few chapters time. Also thank you, TFALokiwriter, for helping me out when I hit a case of writers block on the last part of this chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	62. Chapter 61

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Sixty-one:

**Kang Tuglular, once the right-hand man of Governor Kodos, stood from where he had been sitting at his desk as the door to his office was thrown open and two men stepped in dragging a struggling child between them. **

**Kang smirked, as they came to a halt a couple of steps in front of him and threw the child to the ground at his feet. Squatting down, Kang simply watched the child as they forced themselves up on to their elbows and got their knees underneath them. **

**They looked at him and Kang smirked at the slight of the familiar blue eyes which glared at him from under straw coloured blonde hair.**

"**JT," Kang greeted.**

**JT didn't answer and simply glared at Kang, who straightened up and nodded to the men who had dragged JT into the room. He turned away from them and walked back over to his desk, he pulled open a draw and took something out of it. **

**He shut the draw and JT heard the clicking of a lock, before Kang turned back around.**

"**Your payment," Kang threw whatever he had taken from the draw to the men.**

**One of them caught it and they both turned to leave the room. **

**JT flinched as Kang suddenly pulled out a gun and shot the two men in the back. **

**The sound of their bodies hitting the ground made JT flinch again and Kang smirked down at him as he placed his gun down on the surface of his desk.**

"**Oh don't worry, JT," Kang spoke, staring down at him. "They were only a couple of Kodos' followers who escaped Tarsus IV… If anything you should be thanking me for killing them. Two less would-be-killers you have to worry about."**

**JT just glared up at Kang, but still didn't say anything.**

"**Oh what's the matter, cat got your tongue?" Kang asked mockingly.**

**Still JT remained silent.**

"**Don't worry, JT," Kang smirked. "We'll soon get you talking… Well more like begging, but that's a conversation for another time. You see JT, it's your fault my boss is dead."**

**Kang turned away, "Now you might believe Kodos killed all those people because he simply didn't like them… But that wasn't really the reason why."**

**Kang looked back at JT.**

"**Does that surprise you JT?" Kang asked.**

**JT just stared at Kang, but again he said nothing.**

"**Well… He did kill some of them, simply because he didn't like them," Kang continued. "For example your aunt and uncle were perfect, exactly what we needed. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't talk him out of it, he just wouldn't change his mind… So I simply had to settle for what I could get. So imagine my joy when I found out you had escaped the massacre."**

**Kang took a step closer to JT.**

"**You are perfect, JT," He explained. "Blonde hair, blue eyes, caucasian, human… I couldn't have asked for better. But Kodos put you on his 'kill list' much to my disappointment, outrage and horror. But now I have a second chance. You see my specialty is eugenics and genetics and with help from Kodos and the others he worked with, we were going to create a race of super human's."**

**Kang turned away and walked over to his desk and sat down. **

"**They were going to be perfect," Kang muttered wistfully. "And one day they would have replaced all the humans of the universe. Other species would have looked upon them with nothing but jealousy. When Starfleet arrived and Kodos was killed, I thought I had lost my chance once again… I had been so close to convincing Kodos to let me have you."**

**JT gulped slightly as Kang looked at him and smirked once more.**

"**But none of that matters now," Kang informed him. "As I finally have you."**

XxX

"_I'm sorry, James," Number One mutters. "I truly am."_

"_Sorry isn't going to bring the others back from the dead, is it?!" Jim turns away. "They're dead Number One and their blood is on your hands. And now thanks to you, Kodos has my crew."_

Kodos' men stood ready, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Before them was the starbase Captain James T. Kirk and Lieutenant Kevin Riley were currently on and the moment they had the perfect opportunity to strike, they would begin their attacking. Their orders were clear, kill or capture the Lieutenant, but under no circumstances must the Captain be killed.

Kodos wanted him alive.

"Now!" The leader of the group ordered.

And the attack began.

.

Kodos laughs to himself as he watches his men begin their attack on the starbase from the safety of his office, before he hits a button and the screen flickers and a new scene appears before him.

.

An explosion shook the starbase as Kodos' men launched their first attack, destroying the side of the base which had been closest to them, killing everyone unlucky enough to have been in that part of the base at the time.

.

Kodos smirks at sight and hits the button again, once more the scene flicker and he's greeted by the sight of Jim running along a hallway, ducking past the walking wounded.

.

Jim ran as fast as he could, he turned a corner and ran down another hallway. The starbase had just been attacked and Jim had a pretty good idea as to who had been responsible for it. But at that moment, Jim had more important issues to worry about.

He couldn't find Kevin.

.

Kodos watches Jim closely.

"Soon, _JT_," He mutters, before hitting the button once more and the scene changes once again.

.

Kevin Riley stumbled along a hallway, keeping one hand braced against the wall to keep his balance. He had hit his head when he had fallen, an explosion of some sort had shaken the starbase and Kevin had fallen and hit his head as a result.

Blood run down the side of his face from the wound hidden just above his hairline and Kevin didn't need a medical expert to tell him he had a concussion. He vision was blurry and he had no idea where he was going, he just hoped it was away from the source of the explosion and towards where Jim was having a private meeting with Number One.

.

Kodos laughs as he watches Kevin stumble and fall to his knees.

At the rate _Kev_ was going, his men wouldn't need to kill him.

.

Kevin looked up as the sound of running footstep reached his ears. He could make out the shape of a person running towards him, but his vision was to blurry to see who it was.

"Kev!" A voice yelled, as the person got closer.

Kevin smiled weakly.

He knew who it was, it was Jim.

"JT," He gasped, as Jim dropped to his knees beside him.

"It's okay, Kev," Jim reassured him. "I've got you."

Kevin winced as Jim examined Kevin's head wound.

"You need to get that looked at," Jim muttered.

Jim got to his feet, before reaching down and pulling Kevin up to his feet beside him. Jim pulled one of Kevin's arms around his shoulders and the two of them began making their way back the way Jim had come from.

.

Kodos let out a curse as he watches them.

Why did _JT _always have to ruins his plans?!

.

One of Kodos' men seemed to appear out of nowhere in front of Jim and Kevin, he had a gun aimed and them and before Jim or Kevin even had a chance to react, he had pulled the trigger.

Kevin let out a gasp and looked down at is chest, blood was quickly soaking through the shirt he was wearing. His legs gave out below him and he almost pulled Jim to the ground with him as he fell. Jim dropped to his knees beside him and quickly pressed his hands over the wound.

In a matter of seconds Jim hands were covered in blood and all Kevin could do was gasp for breath as he stared at Jim, who was yelling at him but Kevin couldn't hear what he was saying, everything was muffled and the light was fading.

.

Kodos throws his head back and laughs a gleeful laugh.

.

Jim slowly lifted his hands from Kevin's chest, as the rising and falling of Kevin's chest slowed down and finally came to a stop under his hands.

Jim shut his eyes and tried to calm his breathing.

This couldn't be happening…

After everything that had happened, it couldn't end like this!

The familiar pressure of a gun barrel being pressed to the side of his head caused Jim to open his eyes and glanced sideways at the man holding the gun.

"What are you waiting for?!" Jim demanded. "Shot me already!"

"Kodos wants you alive," He answered, before knocking Jim out with the butt of his gun.

.

Kodos watches the screen with a smirk.

It couldn't have gone any better.

XxX

**T'Pol shifted where she sat as she attempted to mediate, but no matter how hard she tried she could not clear her mind. **

**Her worry for her Trip just wouldn't allow her to find the peace she needed. **

**Finally she opened her eyes, blew out the candle before her and got to her feet. **

**She quickly pulled off her robe and changed into her usual attire. She glanced at daughter, who was asleep on hers and Trip's shared bed, before exiting her quarters and making her way through the ship towards the ship's gym. **

**As she had expected the gym was empty and she quickly made her way over to the far side of the gym. She stopped in the middle of a practice mat and began working her way through some basic Suus Mahna moves. **

**Forming a pattern she shut her eyes and she began to move around the mat slowly, keeping her movement steady and slow, but incredibly accurate. As she continued to practice, she increased her speed and only opened her eyes as she came to a halt at the sound of the gym's doors opening.**

**Two ensigns entered. **

**T'Pol recognised them from when she worked in the science department, which wasn't very often as she was usually needed on the bridge during her time on duty. **

**The two of them were chatting to each other as they made their way to one of the practice mats on the other side of the gym to T'Pol and they were so caught up in their conversation that they didn't even notice T'Pol was also in the gym.**

**T'Pol didn't mean to overhear their conversation, but her sensitive ears picked up their voices as clearly as if they were standing right beside her.**

"**It's just terrible, isn't it?" The first one muttered.**

"**It is," The second one answered. "Just when that poor boy finally thought he was safe, too."**

"**Yeah," The first sighed. "To have survived Tarsus and have been so close to Earth, only to get kidnapped less than a day away from Earth."**

**T'Pol's gaze snapped over to the two ensigns and she illogically held her breath, as she listened to the second ensign answer.**

"**I heard he saved Chief Engineer Tucker," The second answered. "If it wasn't for him telling Elizabeth what to do and then leading those men away from the two of them, so they wouldn't be found, Chief Engineer Tucker would have bleed to death and Elizabeth might have been killed."**

**T'Pol didn't wait to hear any more, she had no doubts as to who they were referring to. And now that she thought about it, she had been so preoccupied with Trip and his injury, she hadn't noticed JT hadn't been there or the fact she hadn't seen him since before the attack.**

**She exited the gym and headed straight towards the turbo-lift.**

**She was going to the bridge.**

**Archer should not have kept this information from her.**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	63. Chapter 62

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Sixty-two:

**Archer hardly glanced up from the PADD he was studying as the door to his ready room opened.**

**"****Captain," T'Pol greeted him, her voice holding a cold hard edge to it.**

**Archer's head snapped up and he looked up at her. To anyone who didn't know her well, would have thought nothing of the way she was standing and watching Archer, but Archer knew her incredibly well and he could see she was angry. **

**Very angry.**

**"****T'Pol," Archer greeted in return, hoping T'Pol anger wasn't directed towards him. "Is there anything I can help you with?"**

**The slight narrowing of T'Pol's eyes almost made Archer gulp. There was no denying it, T'Pol anger definitely had something to do with him.**

**"****Why did you fail to inform me that JT had been taken?" T'Pol asked, she didn't raise her voice but Archer could all but feel the anger behind her words.**

**Archer coughed nervously, "I didn't want to worry you, T'Pol."**

**T'Pol raised an eyebrow.**

**"****Trip had been injured," Archer tried to explain. "I didn't want to add to the stress of the situation."**

**"****I should have been informed," T'Pol answered, sounding no less angry than before.**

**"****I know," Archer replied. "I'm sorry. We should have told you."**

**T'Pol didn't answer she simply stared at Archer, who shifted slightly under her stare. Her stare was unnerving to say the least. The only person who ever seemed unaffected by T'Pol's stare was Trip, who would carry on regardless of the look directed at him.**

**"****I don't know what else to tell you, T'Pol," Archer finally muttered. "I'm sorry, I really am."**

**T'Pol inclined her head slightly and turned to leave, just as Archer's PADD let out a noise meeting him know he had received a new message.**

**"****T'Pol," Archer called after her, having looked down at his PADD.**

**T'Pol paused by the door and looked back over her shoulder at him.**

**"****I truly am sorry, T'Pol," Archer held her gaze for a moment before he looked away, down at the PADD once more. It was almost like he was apologising for something else, rather than failing to tell her about JT's kidnapping.**

**T'Pol inclined her head again and continued through the door.**

**"****T'Pol," Archer called after her again.**

**This time T'Pol turned to face him.**

**"****You don't understand," Archer began to explain, only to hesitate.**

**T'Pol raised an eyebrow.**

**"****Starfleet…" Archer continued. "Starfleet have ordered us to return to Earth. Immediately."**

**T'Pol tensed.**

**"****We can't go after them, even if we wanted to," Archer shook his head, a hint of anger creeping into his voice, but the anger wasn't directed at T'Pol. "The ship is damaged and we have great many injured and more dead than any Captain would like… JT was the only one taken, so Starfleet is prioritising the safety of the eight who weren't. JT… He's on his own now."**

XxX

_Kodos watches the screen with a smirk._

_It couldn't have gone any better._

Jim is forced to his knees by two of Kodos' men.

Sitting against the wall in front of him, behind a force-field, were his command crew and all were restrained and gagged. Much to Jim's relief none of them appeared injured, Kodos may have only been using them as bait to get him here, but that didn't mean he wouldn't let his men have some fun with them.

And Jim was very familiar with Kodos' definition of fun.

Not that Kodos had needed to use them as bait, his men had done a fine job of capturing him without having to threaten the lives of his command crew. But deep down, Jim knew he had let them take him.

Or when that gun barrel had been placed against his head he could have knocked it away, or when the weapon had been pulled back to knock him out, he could have moved.

But he hadn't.

It hadn't seemed worth it.

Kevin was…

"My, my, look what the cat dragged in," Kodos mocks, as he approaches Jim. "But I'd been rather hoping there'd be more of you… Tell me, _JT_, where is _Kev_?"

Jim glares up at Kodos from where he was kneeling, but even as he does so he's unable to stop the tears welling up in his eyes.

Kodos knew damn well where Kevin was!

"Answer me!" Kodos yells, backhanding Jim across the face and sending him crashing sideways to the floor.

Jim grunts in pain as he lands awkwardly, he's hands were restrained behind his back by a pair of handcuffs that he hadn't had the chance to pick yet. One of Kodos' man grabs him by the shoulders and pulls him back up right.

Kodos bends down and leans in close, running the back of his fingers down Jim's cheek. Jim turns his face away from Kodos and tries not to gag at the scent of Kodos breath. It smelt like rotting meat, but maybe Jim was just imagining it.

"Where is he, _JT_?" Kodos whispers in his ear, sending a shiver down his back.

Jim tries to twist free of the men holding him, but their grip was too tight. Kodos straightens up and takes a step back and pulls a gun from under his coat and twirls it in one hand.

"Maybe this will refresh your memory," Kodos proclaims.

Jim can only watch in horror as Martha is dragged into the room. Kodos smirks and turns towards her.

"Martha Leighton," Kodos greets, his voice sickly sweet. "I'm so glad you can join us. You're about to become the star of our very next show!"

"He's dead," Jim whispers.

Kodos smirks and turns towards Jim.

"I'm sorry, _JT_," Kodos signals to one of his men. "But could you repeat that, but a little louder this time. I'm afraid my hearing isn't what it used to be anymore."

"I said he's dead!" Jim almost yells. "Kevin Riley is dead!"

Kodos laughs maniacally, "You think you're little tricks and lies can fool me, _JT_, I've seen what you're capable of. Don't think for one moment you can fool me."

"And just what I'm I trying to fool you about?" Jim glares at him.

"Why _Kev's_ death of course," Kodos answers, spreading his arms and spinning around theatrically. "Where could he be hiding I wonder?" Kodos looks round, "Maybe up there, or there maybe."

Kodos frowns and turns back to Jim and smirks at him.

"You can't fool me, _JT_," Kodos cackles. "I know he's nearby, waiting for the perfect moment to kill me, whilst you keep me and my men distracted."

"Kevin Riley is dead," Jim repeats, he voice low and cold. "I know he's dead because I watched your men kill him!"

Kodos stops for a moment and thinks before smirking, "Oh yes! Of course he is, silly me. He died a bit like this, didn't he?"

Kodos turns, aims his gun at Martha and pulls the trigger.

"NO!" Jim screams, as he watches Martha's body hit the ground.

XxX

**Number One adjusted the weapons in the holster at her hip as she approached the craft which was about to become her home for the duration of her search for JT. The craft was small and could easily slip past the sensor systems most planets used, without raising any alarms, but just because it was small that didn't mean it wasn't capable of doing serious damage.**

**It had enough fire power to raise a small city to the ground.**

**It was also fast.**

**Number One nodded to the attendant who was waiting beside the ship for her.**

**"****Ma'am," They greeted, with a salute.**

**Number One nodded to them. **

**"****At ease," She ordered. "Where is Agent Dragomirov?"**

**"****On his way, Ma'am," They answered.**

**Number One nodded again, but didn't so her surprise. **

**In all the years she had worked with Dragomirov, he had never once been late, in fact he was usually early. And she and Dragomirov had worked with each other for a long time. He had been her partner when she had first joined Starfleet Intelligence and been nothing more than a simple field agent.**

**The sound of footsteps caused Number One to turn from where she had been studying the craft before her. She watched with slight amusement as Agent Dragomirov hurried towards her.**

**"****Agent Dragomirov," Number One greeted. "So kind of you to finally arrive."**

**Dragomirov cheeks coloured slightly in embarrassment. **

**"****My apologies for being late, Madam," Dragomirov apologised, his voice held a slight hint of his native accent, but it had lost its strength over the many years he had worked at Starfleet Intelligence. "There was a slight… Issue, which had to be taken care of before I left. It took longer than I expected."**

**Number One nodded.**

**"****Ma'am," The attendant spoke up. "Permission to be dismissed?"**

**Number One turned to look at them. They no doubt had other duties to attend to and if Number One was being honest with herself she had forgotten they were still standing there.**

**"****You may go," Number One informed them.**

**"****Thank you, Ma'am," They saluted, before hurrying away.**

**Agent Dragomirov turned his attention towards the craft and grinned.**

**"****It is fast," Dragomirov told her. "We will catch up with them before the end of the day."**

**Number One nodded, "The sooner we get my godson back, the better. Starfleet has ordered the ship he was rescued by to return to Earth. For the time being we are the only hope James has of being saved."**

**"****Starfleet has abandoned him?" Dragomirov asked, sounding surprised.**

**"****For the time being, yes," Number One answered. "It is possible they will send out a ship to look for him, but by then it'll be too late." **

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	64. Chapter 63

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Sixty-three:

**JT couldn't stop himself from shaking as he lay naked from the waist up, strapped to an old fashioned metal operating table. **

**He was strapped down by a number of thick leather straps. There was one across his forehead, keeping his entire head still against the cold metal, one across his shoulders, one across his elbows and across his waist, two around his wrists. Another was pulled tightly over his hips, while three others went across his knees and ankles.**

**And no matter how hard he twisted and wriggled, he couldn't get himself free. **

**He couldn't even loosen the straps, which cut in to his skin and left angry red marks in their wake, from where they had rubbed his skin raw. In fact, he had pulled so much at his wrists whilst moving, that they had begun to bleed and every time he so much as shivered, the straps would cut in deeper and pain would shoot up his arms and leave him feeling lightheaded.**

**To make matters worse, JT had no idea where he was. **

**All he knew for certain was, he was no longer on the planet where Kodos' men had handed him over to Kang. **

**All he could remember was Kang injecting him with something and everything from then on was a blur of fuzzy images and the odd sounds, but he was sure they had travelled on a ship, he could remember the vibrations of the ship's engines from where he had been dumped on the floor at some point.**

**He must have fallen asleep or been knocked out at some point, because the next thing he knew he was he was waking up strapped to the table which held him and he could feel the lingering touch of whoever had changed him out of his cloths. But that was the only indication he had that there was at least one other person somewhere nearby, as since he had woken up, he hadn't seen a single person.**

**The ceiling above him was covered with mirrored tiles, allowing him to see the entire room around him.**

**And JT really wished he couldn't.**

**The room around him was set up like an old fashioned operating theatre and it was creeping him out. He wasn't overly keen on hospital's, not since he, Kev and Tom had entered that hospital back on Tarsus IV. And he knew that what ever Kang had planned for him, it wasn't going to be good.**

**He needed to escape, but he couldn't.**

**And time was running out, as somewhere in the building around him, he heard a door slam shut and loud footsteps echoing through the hallways… And they were heading in his direction. As the footstep drew nearer, JT's heart began to race in his chest and his breathing became faster. He knew if he didn't calm down, he'd have a panic attack.**

**The footsteps stopped outside the door to the room he was in and he heard the lock clicking open. JT shut his eyes and held his breath as the door swung open and the footsteps entered the room. He didn't dare open his eyes as the door swung shut with a loud bang and the footsteps came to a halt beside him.**

XxX

_Kodos stops for a moment and thinks before smirking, "Oh yes! Of course he is, silly me. He died a bit like this, didn't he?"_

_Kodos turns, aims his gun at Martha and pulls the trigger._

"_NO!" Jim screams, as he watches Martha's body hit the ground._

Leonard McCoy didn't even blink when Kodos shot Martha, he had kept his gaze fixed on his best friend. All he could do was watch as Jim stares at Martha's body, with a look on his face that McCoy couldn't even begin to describe and as tears began to roll down Jim's face, McCoy wanted to do nothing more than comfort his best friend, but he couldn't.

Finally Jim looks away from Martha's body, ducking his head down and hiding his face from view, just as Kodos tosses his gun to the side and makes his his way over to Jim once more. One Kodos' men pulls a gun from their belt and places the barrel to the side of Jim's head.

Jim doesn't even flinch, it was like he didn't even know the gun was there.

Which only caused McCoy to worry, he knew Jim better than most people. He knew things about Jim that nobody else knew and the man kneeling on the floor with a gun barrel pressed to the side of his head, wasn't the Jim he knew. This was a side of Jim, McCoy had never seen before and it was troubling.

McCoy had seen Jim and at his best and worse over the years, but this… He had never seen Jim defeated before. Even during the fiasco with Khan, Jim had always kept fighting, even when Marcus had threatened to destroy the Enterprise and Jim had apologised to everyone, admitting their deaths were going to be his fault… Many would say that was defeat.

But McCoy knew it wasn't, because if Jim had truly given up, none of them would be alive right now and sitting there about to watch Jim's execution.

And as Jim's shoulders began to shake, Kodos kneels down beside him and whispers something in his ear and McCoy wanted to do nothing more than break free and rip Kodos to pieces in that very moment.

How dare this monster of a man do this to his best friend! Never before had McCoy felt a rage such as the one he was currently feeling. Had this been what Spock felt like after Jim had died saving the ship and he had chased Khan down?

"How does it feel, _JT_?" Kodos smirks, as he straightens up and moves away from Jim. "To know that you have failed? To know that you let those you promised to protect, die? Tell me, _JT_, what is it like?"

Jim didn't reply, he just stares at the ground and McCoy could only wonder if Jim had finally reached his breaking point. He had suffered so much, at the hands of so many people. Was finding out Kodos was still alive and had killed so many he cared about as a result, going to be the straw that broke the camel's back?

But there was one thing everyone seemed to forget about Jim.

He was already broken.

Well, not completely…

Tarsus had destroyed a part of him, which no matter how hard someone tried to fix, it would always remain broken. Someone couldn't witness what Jim had and done the things Jim had on Tarsus and not be.

And that made him very dangerous.

"Hmm," Kodos taps his chin. "I might just have the thing to get you talking again, _JT_. It's no fun when you're so quiet, makes killing you so unsatisfactory…"

"Guards," Kodos suddenly yells, turning towards two of his men who stood by the door. "Bring in the prisoner!"

XxX

**Number One stared down at the two bodies lying near the doorway of the room she now stood in. It was pretty obvious that the room had been stripped bare on purpose and who ever had done it, had done it expertly. **

**There was nothing left.**

**Not a single trace of anything that could have told her who was responsible. No finger prints or DNA, even the air held no traces of anything considered not normal for the apartment building they were in. **

**The floor was completely clean aside from the blood which had covered the floor near the bodies. If it hadn't been for the lack of dust, Number One would have believed the room had never been used.**

**All that remained were the two dead bodies, but that wasn't going to offer much help to Number One in working out where JT had been taken. After all the dead couldn't talk and she doubted they even knew where JT was being taken after they had bought him here. **

**All she knew was JT had been here and now he was gone and who ever now had him, had hidden their tracks incredibly well. Shutting her eyes for a moment, Number One took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, in order to calm herself down. Getting angry wasn't going to be of any help, if she wanted to find her godson. **

**She needed to remain calm and have a clear mind if she was every going to work out how to save him… She was JT's only hope of surviving this and she couldn't fail him by becoming overly emotional.**

**Number One turned her attention to Dragomirov, who was kneeling beside the two bodies examining them. **

**From what he could tell both had been killed by a single shot to their backs and there wasn't a doubt in Dragomirov's mind that both had been dead before their bodies hit the ground, or close to it. **

**It appeared that the shots had passed straight through the bodies and out the other side and from the angle, it would have gone straight through their hearts, or at least punctured their hearts, as it passed through their bodies.**

**It made Dragomirov believe whoever had done this, had done this before. The shots were alarmingly accurate and accuracy like that only came from years of practice and experience. Whomever now had JT, was far more dangerous than a handful of Kodos' men who had escaped Tarsus IV when Starfleet had arrived.**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And I'm sure everyone has heard the devastating news about Anton Yelchin's death by now… It's so sad, may he rest in peace :'( I'm sorry there has been such a delay in posting this chapter, but I've been very busy at college, but Friday was my last day, so I should be able to post more quickly now. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	65. Chapter 64

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Sixty-four:

**T'Pol was sitting in the chair beside Trip's bed, who was currently asleep having woken up for a short period a few hours before. He had been awake long enough for Dr Phlox to conclude there had been no permanent damage done and just long enough to trade a Vulcan kiss with T'Pol, when no one was looking.**

**T'Pol hated to admit it to herself, but she had wanted a human kiss too. But the oxygen tube connected to Trip's nose made it hard to do so, even the slightest of movements would knock it from its place and she had no desire to be on the receiving end of one of Dr Phlox's knowing looks.**

**A spike of pain so sudden it caused her to double over slightly in pain, shot through her body and left her gasping for breath. She gaze instantly snapped to Trip, but he was still fast asleep, peacefully so and the read out above his bio-bed showed no signs that he was in any kind of pain. **

**Gasping T'Pol straightened up and gripped the arm of her chair, the pain was not fading. **

**All she knew was the pain wasn't her own.**

"**Elizabeth," T'Pol gasped out as she fell forwards on to the floor as a second spike of pain shot through her.**

**It felt like someone was slicing her open.**

**And then suddenly she was no longer in the room gasping on the floor beside Trip's bio-bed, but strapped to a metal table, if the feel of it against her skin was anything to go by. Above her stood five people, with medical masks covering their faces, dressed in bloody scrubs and somehow she knew the blood was her own. **

**One of them raised a laser scalpel and she could feel herself screaming, begging and pleading for them to stop, as tears run down her face and just before the laser scalpel made contact with her already blood covered skin, she screwed her eyes shut and when she opened them she found herself back on the floor beside Trip's bio-bed.**

**She shut her eyes and tried to gain control over the raging pain which was shooting through her, but every time she got close to regaining control, another spike of pain would shot through her. She must have cried out, because she became aware of Dr Phlox kneeling beside her. But she couldn't hear what he was saying over the dull roaring in her ears.**

**T'Pol welcomed the painless darkness which consumed her as Dr Phlox administered a hypo, but just before the darkness completely claimed her, she got one more flash from the other place. A blood covered body, lay strapped to a metal table and for a moment T'Pol felt confusion, before she realised she was once again seeing the world through someone else's eyes.**

**And the mirrored ceiling they were staring at, showed her very clearly who it was she had shared a mind with briefly…**

XxX

"_Hmm," Kodos taps his chin. "I might just have the thing to get you talking again, JT. It's no fun when you're so quiet, makes killing you so unsatisfactory…" _

"_Guards," Kodos suddenly yells, turning towards two of his men who stood by the door. "Bring in the prisoner!"_

Jim looks up as Kodos' men drag the prisoner into the room and dumps them on the floor and Jim's heart stops.

That was impossible.

He was dead.

He had seen his dead body with him own eyes.

"Tom," Jim whispers in disbelief.

Hearing Jim's whisper, Tom looks up from where he was struggling to get onto his hands and knees. His eyes widen and a moment of strength hits him. He stubbles to his feet and launches himself at Jim, who pulls himself free of the guards gripping his shoulders and dives forward catching Tom just before he collapses to ground.

"JT," Tom mutters, wrapping his arms around Jim, as Jim lowers the two of them to the ground once more.

"Tom," Jim replies, returning the embrace. "I thought you were dead… How? I saw your dead body."

"I don't know," Tom answers, before a coughing fit consumes him. His throat was so dry it hurt to talk.

"Kodos… Caught me… I thought he… Was going to… Kill me," Tom finally rasps out. "But… He held me… Prisoner."

Jim shuts his eyes, leaning forward to rest his forehead against Tom's.

"I'm sorry about Martha," Jim finally speaks. "If I had known she'd been caught too…"

Tom reached up and gripped the sides of Jim's face and pulled back, so he could look in Jim's eyes. The two of them didn't need to speak to convey their meaning. Finally Jim ducks his head and Tom placed a kiss to his forehead.

"It… Wasn't your… Fault… Brother," Tom whispers.

"Well isn't this sweet?" Kodos mocks, laughing maniacally. "Brothers-in-arms reunited at last, to die side by side… It's such a shame _Kev_ couldn't be here to join us."

Jim's lips twitch slightly as he looks up and meets Tom's gaze, but before Tom could even find the strength to question what Jim's look meant, the two of them were pulled apart by Kodos' men, upon a wave of Kodos hand.

"Now before we get to the fun part, let's have a little recap of what's happened so far," Kodos smirks at Jim and Tom. "I think we'll start with Eleanor."

As much as Jim hated to look, he just couldn't look away, as one by one the deaths of the other member of the Tarsus Nine were projected onto the far wall.

How had he been so blind?

How had he failed to see their deaths were more than unfortunate accidents?

Why had he listened to Tom, who had told him countless times Kodos was still alive.

"It… Wasn't your… Fault, JT," Tom manages to call across to Jim. "None… Of this… Was your… Fault."

Finally looking away from the projected images, as they reached the image Kevin's death, Jim shut's his eyes.

He had failed them.

He had failed all of them.

"Now which of you should I kill first?" Kodos taps his chin. "What? No volunteers?"

"Fine," Kodos mutters dramatically. "We'll do it the fun way."

Walking forward, Kodos stands between the two of them and smirks.

"Eeny… Meeny… Miny… Moe…Catch a tiger by the toe, if he hollers, let him go… Eeny… Meeny… Miny… Moe!"

And with the final word, Kodos turns and points at the one his men will kill first.

XxX

**The first thing T'Pol became aware of was the beeping of a heart monitor which beeped in time with her heart, which proved she hadn't fallen asleep in the chair beside Trip's bed. The second was the strong smell of disinfectant which she had long ago come to associate with the ship's medial bay.**

**Opening her eyes, T'Pol slowly sat up and raised a hand to her forehead. How hadn't she realised before now? It seemed so obvious, she didn't even have to search her mind to find it. It was there, alongside the bonds she shared with Trip and Elizabeth.**

"**Ah," Dr Phlox greeted her. "I see you're finally awake."**

"**Dr Phlox," T'Pol answered.**

"**How are you feeling?" Dr Phlox asked.**

**T'Pol was about to answer, but was cut off as Captain Archer entered the medical bay and made his way over to her.**

"**T'Pol," He greeted.**

"**Captain," T'Pol inclined her head slightly.**

"**What happened?" Archer asked.**

"**It seems during my time spent with JT, I had subconsciously formed a bond with him," T'Pol answered.**

"**What?" Archer questioned.**

"**It's hardly that surprising, Captain," Dr Phlox answered before T'Pol had a chance to. "Vulcan females, just like all other females of the species which raise their offspring, are subject to maternal instincts."**

**Archer stared at Dr Phlox for a moment, before shaking his head slightly and turning back to T'Pol.**

"**That all very interesting, but it doesn't explain what happened," Archer pointed out.**

**T'Pol raised an eyebrow at Archer, before clearing her throat.**

"**The bond I share with JT allowed our minds to join for a brief moment of time," T'Pol explained. "I was able to experience what he was experiencing in that moment as if it were myself that was experiencing it."**

"**You're telling me that what happened earlier was a result of a bond you have with JT and what you felt was what he was experiencing?" Archer demanded.**

**T'Pol inclined her head.**

"**Right," Archer muttered. "I've got to make a call."**

**T'Pol watched as Archer quickly left the medical bay and ignored the look Phlox was sending her. She knew her lack of control would be looked down on by other Vulcan, especially since the child she now shared a parental bond with was human, but T'Pol found she didn't care.**

**All she cared about in that moment was finding JT before any more harm could befall him.**

**And possibly carry out the practice of Tal-shaya on those responsible for causing him harm in the first place.**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Surprise! Tom isn't dead! I have to admit when I started writing this story, I had planned for him to stay dead, but I then realised I needed him alive for a future story I'm planning to write which is going to be based after this story, so I traded him with Martha, who was originally going to survive the story. Also, what does everyone think about Sulu being gay? As it has been revealed Sulu will have a husband in beyond and a daughter! I think it's really nice they've done that. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	66. Chapter 65

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Sixty-five:

**JT shut his eyes, ignoring the tears that ran down his cheeks.**

**It had been hours since Kang and his team had left, yet he could still feel the pain, which intensified every time he moved.**

**It hurt to even breathe.**

**He couldn't even be sure as to what they has done to him, all he knew was it had hurt worse than anything he had ever felt before.**

**It hurt more than when Kodos' guards had been let loose on him.**

**Everything had faded into fuzzy haze of red hot pain and he didn't even want to think about it. He didn't know whether them healing him afterwards was worse or better. After all it raised the question: What were they keeping him alive for?**

**And JT had pictured his death many different ways whilst on the run from Kodos, but bleeding out while strapped to a metal table hadn't been one of them… But then they had healed him. JT supposed he should take it as a blessing, they clearly didn't want him dead or they would have left him to bleed out and it also gave him a chance to escape… If he could just find a way to get free of the straps holding him.**

**But then and again maybe not, it hurt just to breathe! **

**Escaping was something JT didn't even what to think about, because it would require him to move and that would just be too painful. He hated to admit it but he wanted T'Pol. He wanted Trip. He wanted Archer. He wanted to be with them again.**

**They were the only people he felt safe with.**

**More tears began to roll down JT's cheeks and he cursed himself for showing weakness. The first time he had cried in front of Kodos' men, it had just goaded them on. It had made the beatings worse and their insults dig deeper. So he had learnt to hide his fear and pain, but here he couldn't do that. **

**It hurt too much, for him not to show it.**

"**Please," JT whispered. "Please make it stop. Please."**

**But talking only made it hurt more.**

**Suddenly the door to the room JT was being held in, was thrown open and JT's eyes snapped open as he looked up at the mirrored ceiling to see who was approaching. It was one of Kang's team, still dressed in bloodied scrubs and a surgical mask covering their nose and mouth and in one hand they held a hypospray.**

**JT could feel his heart begin to pound against his rib cage, as he doubted the hypo contained any kind of painkiller. He wanted to struggle, kick and scream, do anything to escape the pain that would surely accompany that hypospray, but he couldn't.**

**Fear and pain alike stopped him.**

**The member of Kang's team came to a stop beside him and JT watched them fearfully, as they raised the hypo and injected it in to his arm.**

**At first nothing happened, but then a burning pain began to shoot through his veins, it was like his blood was on fire.**

**And JT screamed. **

XxX

"_Fine," Kodos mutters dramatically. "We'll do it the fun way."_

_Walking forward, Kodos stands between the two of them and smirks._

"_Eeny… Meeny… Miny… Moe…Catch a tiger by the toe, if he hollers, let him go… Eeny… Meeny… Miny… Moe!"_

_And with the final word, Kodos turns and points at the one his men will kill first._

McCoy's breath catches in his throat as Kodos points at Jim.

One of the guards holding Jim pulls out their gun and places the barrel to the side of Jim's head.

Jim doesn't even flinch, he just stares at Tom.

And McCoy can't bring himself to look away as the guard pulls the trigger…

Only nothing happens.

The guard pulls the trigger again, but just like the first time, nothing happens, other than the gun making an odd clicking noise… Almost like it's jammed.

The man pulls the trigger a third time, only for the same thing to happen.

The two guards holding Jim share a look, before the second reaches for their gun, but before they have a chance to move, Jim bursts in action like a whirlwind.

Moving fast, Jim knocks the feet out from under his would-be-shooter, quickly followed by elbowing the other guard under the jaw, knocking them out and at the same time he uses his momentum from his first move to get to his feet.

In less time than it took McCoy to blink, Jim has his hands free of the cuffs and he spins and drives his fist into the second guards stomach, who collapses to their knees, Jim quickly grabs their gun and puts a bullet through their skull.

He spins and ducks to the ground, as the two guards holding Tom open fire on him. With only two shots, Jim takes both of them out, before turning his attention to the other guards in the room. He'll worry about Tom, once the other guards were no longer a threat to either of them.

There were six guards left and Jim halves that number with a few quick and accurate shot, with a speed McCoy didn't believe was possible. And once again McCoy's breath catches in his throat as Jim ducks out the way of the return gun fire, which bounces off the wall above where McCoy and the others were being held.

Jim draws his knife from his boot, which Kodos' men had stupid enough not to take from him when they had first caught him and drops his stolen gun. McCoy watches as Jim throws the knife with practiced ease, taking out one of the three remaining men. And his heart almost stops when Jim jumps to his feet and runs straight towards the two remaining men, who quickly back up but remain firing at him.

Jim ignores the bullets which hit him and from what McCoy can make out, of the few bullets which hit him, most were only glancing wounds whilst the majority missed him entirely… But one or two hit their intended target, if the way Jim's body jerked was anything to go by.

Jim ducks and rolls as he draws closer to the lifeless body which was now home to his knife and as he passes it, he grabs his knife and comes up swinging, slicing the throat of the closer of the two remaining guards, whose final shot goes wide and hits the remaining man as his body is spun round by the force of Jim's strike, showering the floor with blood as it does so.

The last guard collapses to the ground and Jim makes his way over to them and picks up their gun. Jim stares down at them for a moment, before turning away and making his way back over to Kodos, who backed up fast, holding out his arms in surrender.

McCoy feels a wave of disgusted wash through him, as Kodos does so.

A man who had just killed a women right in front of them, with no remorse, was pleading for mercy!

This was a man who had ordered the deaths of four thousand people, pleading for a mercy he had never shown to others who were far more deserving of it than him!

Jim stops a couple of feet away from Kodos and raises the gun in Kodos' direction.

"You can't kill me," Kodos smirks. "I'm unarmed."

Jim just stares at him, adjusts his aim and pulls the trigger.

XxX

"_**Please… Please make it stop… Please…**_**"**

**T'Pol gasped as she sat up, one hand instinctively reaching for her arm. For the past few days, she had been successful in shielding her mind from JT's pain. But even with her shielding, her body couldn't seem to shake the painful ache which accompanied every movement.**

**Archer had made contact with the Admirals straight away, after her first episode, yet they refused to send a ship out to search for JT. It would risk too many lives, even if the one they were searching for was the son of a federation hero, who JT was a damn sight braver than in Trip's opinion.**

'**It one matter to sacrifice ya life for ya family and crew, but it's another completely to risk ya life to save a complete strangers, when ya got a mad man huntin' ya down like a damn animal! Not to mention the fact ya thirteen years old and not a fully trained Starfleet officer with years of experience!' Trip's angry rant still echoed in her mind.**

**She needed to save him.**

**They needed to save him.**

**T'Pol turned her attention to Elizabeth who was sleeping across the room from her. Elizabeth was missing JT too. Being more human that she is Vulcan, Elizabeth showed her emotions far more than T'Pol did and the first few days after JT had disappeared, she had been upset.**

**And so has the other members of the Tarsus Nine.**

**They were missing their leader, the one who had kept them alive and risked his own life to protect them. To T'Pol, Trip had been correct in many ways, JT's actions had been far braver than his father's before him. **

**But that wasn't to say JT's father hadn't been brave, when he sacrificed his life to save his crew.**

**Bravery must be a trait that runs in the Kirk family.**

**Breathing out through her nose, T'Pol got to her feet. Trip shifted in the bed behind her, stretching out his uninjured arm across where she had been lying moments before, but he didn't wake. T'Pol walked across the room and entered the bathroom. She stopped in front of the sink and switched on one of the taps, leaning forward she splashed her face with water and reached for the towel hanging on the rail.**

**Standing up, she dried her face and looked in the mirror, only it wasn't her reflection staring back at her.**

**It was JT.**

"_**Help me.**_**"**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm really worried that Jim was completely out of character in this chapter (I also think the same about the last chapter), so if anyone thinks he is, please let me know. What do you all think of T'Pol and JT's bond? Is it realistic? Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	67. Chapter 66

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Sixty-six:

**Number One was once again sat at her desk, in her office. JT had been missing for over a week and a half now and she was still no closer to finding him than she had been that first day. She had assigned multiple agents to search for JT, but still there was no indication to be found on where JT had been taken and by who.**

**Sighing Number One turned in her chair and looked out the window. What would Winona think of her? She had failed to protect her youngest son. Shutting her eyes, Number One bowed her head slightly. **

**She had failed to protect both the Kirk boys.**

**She could still remember that day when the news of their step-father's, Frank, actions had reached her. But it had also made her question what kind of women Winona had become. What kind of mother did it take her to be, if she was incapable of seeing what Frank was doing to her children? What kind of mother was she that her children couldn't trust her enough to tell her the truth about what Frank was doing to them?**

**A knock on her office door snapped her from her thoughts and she spun round to face her desk once more.**

"**Enter," She called.**

**The door opener to reveal none other than Captain Christopher Pike.**

"**Chris?" Number One question surprised.**

**Christopher Pike smiled at her as he made his way over to her desk and sat down in one of the seats in front of it.**

"**You were not due back until next week," Number One stared at him, having overcome her surprise.**

"**I thought I'd surprise you," Chris answered. "We got back sooner than expected… Our last mission was completed in half the time we estimated it would last."**

**Captain Christopher Pike had been on a two year mission, leading a crews of three hundred on a peace keeping mission. The old… Conflict, between the Vulcan's and the Andorians had flared up again and a war was threatening to break out between the two races… Well more the Andorians were threatening to go to war, whilst the Vulcan's simply told them how illogical they were being.**

**Number One allowed herself to smile briefly, "I'm glad you've returned in good health."**

**Chris chuckled, "Have I ever told you, you'd make a very convincing Vulcan?"**

"**A few times I believe," Number One answered.**

"**So…" Chris sat forward. "Dinner tonight?"**

**Number One glanced at him sharply and Chris grinned at her.**

"**I…" Number One began. "Yes."**

"**Great," Chris grinned at her, "I pick you up at eight."**

**Chris lent across the desk and kissed Number One's cheek, before leaving the room, sending Number One a wink over his shoulder as he walked out the door.**

**Number One slowly got to her feet.**

**This was just what she needed, she decided. She had a chance to take a step back and get her thoughts together. She had become to close and she remembered someone once telling her, the closer you are the less you see.**

**So maybe, just maybe, if she took a step back, she'd be able to see the full picture and possibly see a clue she had missed, because she had been too close… Plus, how could she pass up the chance to finally go on a date with Christopher Pike, the only man she had ever loved. **

XxX

_Jim stops a couple of feet away from Kodos and raises the gun in Kodos' direction._

"_You can't kill me," Kodos smirks. "I'm unarmed."_

_Jim just stares at him, adjusts his aim and pulls the trigger._

Jim watches as Kodos falls to the ground howling in pain, as he clutches one of his knees which Jim had just put a bullet through.

Jim lowers the gun, snaps it open in one movement and empties the remaining bullets to the floor before throwing the gun away to one side. He didn't even glance at his command crew, he just walks past the still howling Kodos, to where Martha body lay.

He knelt down beside her.

Her chest was a bloody mess and her eyes were open and lifeless. Reaching forward, Jim brushed a strand of hair back from her face and gently closed her eyes. He bowed his head and shut his eyes and gripped one of her slowly cooling hands.

"I'm sorry, Martha," Jim sobs slightly. "I'm so sorry. I should have saved you."

Opening his eyes and taking a deep breath, Jim slowly gets to his feet. He turns and walks over to where Tom was still lying on the floor. He glances at Kodos who was withering in pain on the floor, the wound wasn't fatal, but he'd never be able to walk the same again.

Jim smiles grimly at the knowledge Kodos wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon under his own power.

Jim drops to his knees beside Tom and hisses as Tom instantly reaches for Jim's injuries and begins to examine them.

"You need… To… Get… treated," Tom rasps out, letting his hands drop from where they had been examining Jim's injuries.

"Number One will be here soon," Jim answers, shifting Tom so his back rested against Jim's chest.

Tom coughs and shifts slightly, knocking one of Jim's wounds causing him to wince.

"What… I… Want to… Is… How you… Managed… To kill… Kodos'… Men… With a… Broken… Wrist," Tom coughs out.

Jim glances down at his still bandaged wrist.

Truth be told, he hadn't even thought about it.

It wasn't the first time he had fought with a broken bone and it probably wouldn't be the last. He had long ago mastered the art of ignoring his own pain and pushing on as if nothing was wrong.

Jim shrugs one shoulder, "I'm used to the pain… I guess I just ignore it."

Tom laughs slightly, before a coughing fit claims him.

"Easy, Tom," Jim warns him. "Number One will be here soon."

And Number One would no doubt be bringing Starfleet ships with her. Jim shut his eyes and rested his chin on top Tom's head. They were safe, they were all safe, as and soon as Starfleet and Number One got there, his command crew would be freed.

He just didn't have the energy to do it himself, he knew he was losing blood and he knew he wouldn't remain conscious much longer, if he didn't rest and keep his heart rate calm and steady. If his heart rate increased, it'd only pump the blood out his body quicker.

Plus he couldn't bear to face his friends, not after what they had seen and what they no doubt knew. Kodos would have gloated about Tarsus IV, they'd know about what he had done and the things he had seen.

He didn't want to see their disgust.

Or worse their pity.

XxX

**Trip hummed to himself as he made his way through the old ship yard. A couple of steps behind him Travis Mayweather and Malcolm Reed were glancing round at the old ships which filled the yard as they walked.**

"**Remind me why we're here again?" Reed asked, as he ducked under a rusty metal bar, which had impaled its self in the side of an old ship.**

"**We've lookin' for a ship," Trip answered, pausing as he studied a ship which appeared to be in working order, before shaking his head and continuing on.**

"**What was wrong with that one?" Reed demanded.**

"**Too slow," Trip replied.**

"**Why are you even looking for a ship?" Travis asked, as he stopped to look at an old ship, he'd only ever seen pictures of.**

"**Me and T'Pol ain't gonna to be staying on Earth," Trip answered. "So we're gonna be needin' a ship to travel."**

"**Why not get one new?" Travis asked, as he jogged to catch up with Trip and Reed.**

"**Too expensive," Trip answered.**

**Reed nodded his agreement, "It's disgraceful, the price they charge for new ships nowadays."**

"**What about that one other there?" Travis asked, pointing at a ship across from them.**

"**That wouldn't survive a single hit," Trip shook his head.**

"**What are you expecting to get hit by?" Reed asked. "It's not like you're going to be flying in to battle."**

**Trip shrugged one shoulder and carried on walking.**

"**You're going to save JT, aren't you?" Travis questioned, with a knowing look.**

"**T'Pol believes it's possible to locate JT through the bond she shares with him," Trip answered. "And Starfleet ain't gonna do anything to save him."**

"**Well you going to need to pilot," Travis grinned at Trip.**

"**I take it ya volunteering," Trip replied.**

"**JT's my buddy," Travis answered, causing Reed to raise an eyebrow at him. "Plus, I promised we'd go rock climbing together."**

"**What about ya, Malcolm?" Trip asked.**

"**It is my duty to accompany you on any rescue missions you undertake to try and save JT, it was me who failed to stop him from being taken in the first place," Reed answered. "Plus neither of you would have any idea how to handle the weapons that ship is capable of carrying."**

"**So in standard English, that translates to 'Yes, Trip, I'd love to join you and if I didn't you'd end up shooting yourself in the foot'." Travis laughed.**

**Reed only just managed to restrain himself from rolling his eyes, as the three of them carried on walking through the old ship yard.**

**Finally Trip came to a stop in front of slightly battered looking ship. It was a small cargo ship, designed to hold a crew of twelve. The ship was designed for speed and toughness, but since the Federation had grown in size, the ships had gone out of fashion, as cargo ship no longer came under attack as often as before, due to less conflicts between planets.**

"**She's perfect," Trip grinned.**

"**It is," Reed agreed. "If you want to look like a smuggler."**

**Trip glanced at Reed before looking back at the ship.**

"**Like I said, she's perfect," Trip nodded to himself. "She'll need a bit of work, but I'll get her purrin' like a kitten in no time."**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I forgot to ask last chapter whether you thought Jim had killed Kodos or not, was anyone surprised by Jim not killing Kodos? Does anyone have any idea what Number One's name is? I've looked around, but I can't find anything that refers to her by anything other than 'Number One'. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	68. Chapter 67

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Sixty-seven:

**JT watched what was happening around him using the mirrored ceiling, in horror. Other beds had been bought in, holding a range of other beings, some of which JT had never seen before. Teams of people had stood around their beds, dressed in medical scrubs and had begun to cut them to pieces. **

**Their screams still echoed in JT's ears.**

**But unlike when they had done the same thing to JT, they hadn't heal them afterwards. **

**Blood of all colours stained the floor, mirrored ceiling and walls. Even when tears had began running down JT's face, he hadn't looks away and every time he had shut his eyes, it had just made the sounds of what was going on around him a hundred times worse. **

**And JT knew he was a truly bad person for feeling it, but he was relieved… Because whist Kang's people were torturing other begins, they were leaving him alone and he didn't think he could deal with another hypo loaded with poison, or whatever it was they were injecting him with every other hour for the past two weeks.**

**JT suddenly groaned, as a sudden pain shot through his head.**

**For the last week, an almost unbearable pain had begun to build up inside his skull. **

**It was like a ball of pressure, which was slowly getting larger and larger with each passing day. For the first few days, it had simply been uncomfortable and JT hadn't thought much of it, thinking it might have just been a migraine from the lights in the room around him…**

**But now he knew it wasn't.**

**The pain was so intense.**

**It felt like something was growing inside his head and if it got much bigger, he was sure his skull would split open. With each passing day the pain was getting worse as the pressure continued to increase, it was already unbearable as it was and if it got much worse... **

**To make matters worse still, JT had no idea what was causing it.**

**All he knew was it hurt and he couldn't ease the pain.**

**Opening his eyes slowly, JT looked up at the mirrored ceiling as he noticed the room had fallen silent around him. The groups of people in medical scrubs had left the room, leaving behind only the bodies of those they had bought in.**

**The slight was the goriest thing JT had ever witnessed and he had survived a massacre.**

**JT snapped his eyes shut, but he could still see the images in his mind. Tears once again began to roll down his cheeks. It was times like these that he wished he'd never survived Tarsus IV. That he had died from his injuries in the explosion when he had been fleeing Kodos' compound with Eleanor and Connor.**

**Because this was hell.**

**And he's never be able to forget the things he had seen done here. **

**He could feel nothing but pain and every time he opened his eyes, he found himself surrounded by death dressed in bloodied medical scrubs and nothing but agony and torture followed.**

**What had he done to deserve this?**

**It was a question he kept asking himself and no matter how much he thought about, he couldn't come up with an answer, because he wouldn't wish this kind of treatment to happen to the worst and cruellest people in the universe.**

XxX

_Plus he couldn't bear to face his friends, not after what they had seen and what they no doubt knew. Kodos would have gloated about Tarsus IV, they'd know about what he had done and the things he had seen._

_He didn't want to see their disgust._

_Or worse their pity._

Jim hardly glanced round as Number One and her officers made their way over to where he and Tom were still sitting. He opens his eyes and looks up at Number One as she comes to a halt beside them, but she wasn't looking down at him and Tom, she was watching Kodos, who was still moaning in pain.

"You didn't kill him," Number One sounds surprised as she turns her attention to Jim and Tom.

Jim shakes his head, "He didn't deserve it."

Number One nodes and narrows her eyes at her godson.

"You're injured," She states, before waving to the medical team she had bought with her.

"We both are," Jim answers, beginning to find it hard to keep his eyes open.

Number One turns her attention to Tom.

"I didn't expect to find you alive, Dr Thomas Leighton," Number One nodes to him. "I am glad to see you are."

Tom nodes slightly in reply, causing Jim to wince in pain as it knocks one of his injuries.

Jim bites down on his lip as the medical team joins them and slowly removes Tom from his arms, jogging Jim's injuries again and causing a sharp pain to shot through him. One of the medical team waves a scanner over Jim and frowns at the read out.

"Can you stand?" The medical officer asks.

Jim nodes, "Yeah."

Jim winces once more as he forces himself to his feet and ignores the warm wetness of his own blood running over his skin and making his cloths stick to him. The medical officer gently takes Jim's arm and begins leading him from the room, towards where the shuttles were waiting.

Blinking quickly, Jim tries to clear the blurriness in his vision but can't.

He stumbles slightly and the medical officer is the only reason Jim didn't end up on the floor. He could hear the medical officer shouting something, but all he could hear was muffled sounds.

Suddenly a second pair of hands grab him and a wave of dizziness passes over him. When had it become so cold? He could hear more people yelling, but Jim could barely keep his eyes open, let alone force himself to focus on what they were saying.

And as the darkness began to creep into his vision, Jim couldn't help but wonder why Kevin wasn't here.

He'd have to ask Number One about that.

Jim's knees buckle and suddenly he laying on his back, with a medical team surrounding him. The last thing Jim thought before the darkness finally consumed him was, Bones was going to kill him for getting himself injured yet again.

XxX

**Kev quickly ducked out of sight as his grandparents spoke to the doctor who had been overseeing his treatment since he had returned to Earth. He quickly made his way along the hallways of the doctor's surgery, hiding and ducking out the way of people who were passing. **

**To most this would have been a challenge, but for Kev it was a walk in the park.**

**It had been far harder to sneak around on Tarsus IV.**

**Having successful made it out into the street, Kev started running. He knew it wouldn't be long until his grandparents noticed he had sneaked off and he wanted to be as far away from them as he could be when they did.**

**Growing up on Tarsus IV, having moved there from Ireland when he was younger, Kev had never seen much of his grandparents and he had never thought of them as bad people… But the night before he had overheard them talking.**

**They had refused to allow him to stay in contact with the others.**

**Starfleet had contacted them, offering the chance for Kev to keep in contact with the others, as part of a program to help them deal with the events that occurred on Tarsus IV. A doctor had come up with the idea, after they had had trouble separating them from each other when they had first arrived at the hospital.**

**They had survived hell together, so logically they would heal better together too.**

**They had come to rely on each other in order to survive. They had formed a bonds with each other, which went far beyond the reaches of friendship. They were a family. They were Kev's family and he refused to be cut off from them.**

**His grandparents planned to take him back to Ireland the next day, so now was his only chance to escape. And he'd fight anyone who tried to stop him. They'd have to drag him to Ireland kicking and screaming, because he wasn't going to give up. **

**He wasn't going to let them break his family apart.**

**Running through the streets, Kev finally came to a stop in order to catch his breath. He didn't know how far he had run, but the area he was now in was nothing like the area he had come from. It was hard to believe parts of the same city could look so different…**

**Hiding in the doorway of a closed shop, Kev tried to keep himself out of sight as he scanned the area for danger, or if anyone was searching for him. His grandparents must have noticed by now and people must have been sent out looking for him. But nobody had seemed to have even noticed him.**

**Suddenly Kev caught sight of someone through the crowds of people going about their daily business.**

**It was Travis Mayweather.**

**Glancing round one last time, Kev quickly run after him, he had nowhere else to go and maybe if he followed Travis for long enough, he'd lead him to Captain Archer. Because if anyone could help him, it'd be Captain Archer. **

**Slowing down at a safe distance away, Kev followed Travis through the streets. Finally they arrived at a shuttleport. Kev stopped walking for a moment and simply stared at the sight before him, the shuttleport was so vast compared to the one back on Tarsus IV. He'd never seen anything like it before.**

**Shaking his head he quickly followed after Travis once more. **

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm not sure if shuttleport is the correct term, but it's basically an airport for shuttles and small spacecraft which take off from the planets surface, rather than using a space dock. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	69. Chapter 68

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

AN: The first part of this chapter was originally the last part of the pervious chapter. Due to a new idea given to me by superstar072299, I've changed the last part of the pervious chapter, so please go back and read that first, if you haven't already read it.

Chapter Sixty-eight:

**Travis had just sat down in the pilot's seat, when T'Pol appeared on the bridge of the ship Trip had spent every day of the last week repairing. It still shocked Travis to see T'Pol as she looked in that moment as she stepped onto the bridge, it was almost like she looked… Ill, but that didn't quite describe it accurately and her emotional control was weaker than he had ever seen it.**

**She looked like death warmed up, Travis decided.**

**Travis knew Trip and Malcolm were both aboard too. Trip was currently in the engine room, working alongside Malcolm, as they worked to increase the power to the weapons systems and the ship's shields and once that had been completed, they'd be on their way.**

**T'Pol walked across the bridge to the navigation station and sat down, she took a moment to compose herself before she began to type a sequence of numbers on the screen. Travis glanced at her but didn't say anything. A couple of seconds later a map appeared on his screen, with a route clearly marked. **

**Frowning slightly, Travis noticed it had no set destination.**

**"Hmm," Dr Phlox hummed, as he stepped on to the bridge. "It appears we are all set to go."**

**Travis turned in his chair and stared at Dr Phlox.**

**"I didn't know you'd be joining us, Doctor," Travis grinned.**

**"T'Pol requested that I join you," Dr Phlox answered. "And I, like the commander, believe JT will be in need of medical assistance when we find him.**

**"I doubt he'll be the only one," Malcolm muttered as he stepped onto the bridge alongside Trip.**

**"Always the optimist, Malcolm!" Trip exclaimed sarcastically, as he walked past Malcolm and over to T'Pol.**

**"We're ready when ya are, ashalik," Trip rested a hand on T'Pol's shoulder.**

**T'Pol turned, rising from her seat and rested her forehead against Trip's shoulder and grabbed his hand, which wasn't resting on her shoulder and held it tightly between her own, sighing at the relief it gave her from JT's pain.**

**"I know ya worried," Trip whispered. "Even if you'll never admit it. But we'll find him, I promise ya that."**

**Trip felt T'Pol exhale against his shoulder and he nodded to Travis and gave him the thumbs up, after removing his hand from T'Pol's shoulder, before resting his hand on T'Pol's back and rubbing it gently.**

**"Archer will take good care of Elizabeth while we're gone," Trip added.**

**A hum filled the air as the ship's engines powered up and T'Pol tightened her grip on Trip's other hand, which she still had grasped between her own.**

**"He's in so much pain," T'Pol explained, not moving from where she rested against Trip's shoulder and Trip had never heard her sound so vulnerable. "I can no longer shield myself from it." **

**Trip kissed the top of T'Pol's head and continued to rub T'Pol's back as the ship took to the air and they began their mission to save JT.**

XxX

_And as the darkness began to creep into his vision, Jim couldn't help but wonder why Kevin wasn't here. _

_He'd have to ask Number One about that._

_Jim's knees buckle and suddenly he laying on his back, with a medical team surrounding him. The last thing Jim thought before the darkness finally consumed him was, Bones was going to kill him for getting himself injured yet again._

Jim returned to a conscious state to the sound of beeping and the feel of someone pulling back his eyelids to shine a too bright light in his eyes. Jim groans and turns his head to the side away from the hand and the too bright light. And then his mind snaps into full alertness and his has the person pinned to the bio-bed with one their arms trapped under their body and the other pinned to their back.

"Bones!" Jim exclaims, recognising who he's just pinned to the bed and quickly releases him.

"God damn it, Jim!" Bones curses straightening up. "If you've reopened one of your wounds, I swear-"

Jim didn't let McCoy finish, he just wrapped his arms around McCoy neck and hugged him.

"Thank god you're okay," Jim mutters into McCoy's shoulder. "I was so scared Kodos was going to kill you before I got there."

In less than a second McCoy was returning the embrace and running a hand through Jim's hair in a comforting manner as Jim began to shake slightly.

"I'm fine, Jim," McCoy reassures him. "Which is more than can be said about you! You do realise you're supposed to run away from the people who are shooting at you, not towards them?"

Jim laughs and pulls away, "What else was I supposed to do? Just let them shoot me?"

McCoy just stared at Jim for a moment.

"You have no idea how close you came to dying," McCoy shook his head slightly. "I nearly lost you on the operating table, Jim…"

"I'm fine, Bones," Jim answers.

"Two major bullet wounds and five minor bullet wounds beg to differ," McCoy replies, unimpressed.

Jim snorts slightly, "It's not the first time I've been shot, Bones… Least this time it didn't have to be stitched up with dental floss."

"That…" McCoy began but trailed off, at a loss for words. "That was…"

"Minty," Jim answers with a grin.

"Unhygienic," McCoy corrects, staring at Jim as if he'd finally lost his mind.

"It was all we had, Bones," Jim replies. "We were hiding in a mountain. If Tom had returned to the colony to get medical supplies, he would have been killed by Kodos' men. It was a miracle we made it out of the colony alive after I got shot. Tom and Kev had to carry me… Least the time before that I'd been able to run after getting shot the first time…"

McCoy just stares at Jim. It was one thing to read about what had happened to him on Tarsus IV, but it was another entirely to hear about it first-hand. Reaching forward McCoy pulls Jim into a hug once more.

XxX

**Kev slowly crept out from his hiding place. He had followed Travis all the way to the ship he was currently hiding on. He had decided to sneak aboard as soon as he heard Travis conversing with Trip and Malcolm about rescuing JT.**

**There was no way he wasn't going to be there for the person he considered his older brother.**

**So after the three of them had boarded the ship, Kev had sneaked aboard after them. He had crept through the ship and had found the crew quarters. He had checked each and every one of them, in order to try and work out which ones where being used and which weren't. **

**The last thing he needed was to be discovered and sent back to his grandparents.**

**After deciding on which crew quarters to hide in, Kev had hidden under the bed and waited until he felt the vibrations of the ship's engines as it powered up and crawled out from his hiding good half hour later, just to be sure.**

**He knew it was unlikely anyone was going to check the quarters, so he knew he could have left his hiding place sooner, but he wanted to be sure.**

**Making careless mistakes, such as moving to early, would have got him killed on Tarsus IV.**

**Standing up, he stretched before sitting down on the bed he'd been hiding under. He looked around the room taking in every detail. This was going to be his home for the foreseeable future, so he needed to know everything about it and most importantly all the exits.**

**All he had to worry about know was sneaking out to get food and remaining undiscovered.**

**Laying back on the bed, Kev smiled at the ceiling. It would be far easier than trying to find food on Tarsus, plus nobody on the ship had any idea he was here, so nobody would be looking for him either. And once they had found JT, he knew he'd be safe.**

**JT would never let his grandparents separate him from the others.**

**Rolling onto his side, so he had his back to the wall and had a clear view of the room around him and more importantly the door, his smile faded slightly. He missed the others… Even if his relationship with Tom was still strained. When JT wasn't around neither of them spoke to each other, unless they had to.**

**Kev just couldn't forgive Tom for refusing to try and rescue JT the second time he had been captured. Kev wasn't sure he'd ever forgive Tom for that, because he knew JT would never have left Tom behind and would have tried his damn hardest to save him.**

**JT would have done it for any of them. **

**He'd only been caught in the first place because he had saved Eleanor and Connor from the flash flood… If he hadn't gone after them, he would never have been caught… But then both Eleanor and Connor would most likely be dead.**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Also ashalik is Vulcan for darling, but you may have already known that. I promise you'll see the rest of the crew and not just McCoy in the upcoming chapters. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	70. Chapter 69

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Sixty-nine:

**Taking a deep breath, Number One tried not to scream in frustration. Taking a step back from the situation in order to see if she had missed anything, hadn't worked. She was no closer to finding her godson than she had been before. **

**She tried to take comfort in her quickly evolving relationship with Captain Christopher Pike, but she just couldn't force herself to relax. Her thoughts kept straying to her godson and the countless situations he could currently be in… She refused to believe he had been killed.**

**He wasn't dead.**

**He couldn't be dead.**

**Suddenly Number One's PADD beeped letting her know she had an incoming message or call. Tapping on the screen, she was pleasantly surprised to see Christopher Pike's face as it appeared on the screen.**

"_**Hey, hun,**_**" Chris greeted her.**

**Number One's lips twitched, "Captain."**

**Chris rolled his eyes, but didn't comment on the use of his title. He knew Number One used it on purpose just to annoy him… Well it seemed like she did, she always had an amused look in her eyes whenever she used it.**

**Chris cleared his throat and stared at Number One for a moment.**

"_**Do you want to talk about it?**_**" Chris asked.**

**Number One raised a questioning eyebrow at him.**

"_**There's obviously something troubling you, hun,**_**" Chris answered. "**_**Sometimes talking helps… Or is it restricted information?**_**"**

**Chris knew Number One's job often meant she was unable to talk as openly as he was regarding the nature of their jobs. Number One dealt with top secret information on a daily basis, which was unsurprising as she was head of Starfleet Intelligence.**

"**It is not classified," Number One replied.**

"_**So…?**_**" Chris questioned.**

"**I am currently working on a missing person's case," Number One answered, purposely keeping the details vague. "And it is related to me personally… I find myself worrying more with every day that passes and I am no closer to finding them."**

**Chris gave her a sympathetic look, he knew the feeling well. It was always difficult when a crew member disappeared on an away mission, or he was on the bridge watching as their life signs flickered out, not knowing whether it was interference from the planet's surface or whether the natives had turned hostile.**

"_**You'll find them,**_**" Chris reassures her.**

**Number One inclined her head slightly, "I hope so."**

**Chris studied Number One for a moment, "**_**There's something else troubling you.**_**"**

"**The person I am looking for is also a Tarsus IV survivor," Number One explained. "I have been looking over the reports from the planet… So many people are dead. Among them was Hoshi Sato."**

"_**A friend of mine was on the planet… They didn't survive.**_**" Chris shut his eyes for a moment. "**_**I know how hard this must be for you, hun.**_**"**

XxX

"_It was all we had, Bones," Jim replies. "We were hiding in a mountain. If Tom had returned to the colony to get medical supplies, he would have been killed by Kodos' men. It was a miracle we made it out of the colony alive after I got shot. Tom and Kev had to carry me… Least the time before that I'd been able to run after getting shot the first time…"_

_McCoy just stares at Jim. It was one thing to read about what had happened to him on Tarsus IV, but it was another entirely to hear about it first-hand. Reaching forward McCoy pulls Jim into a hug once more._

Thomas walks along the hallway glancing at Jim every now and again, with a worried look on his face.

"You sure you're okay, JT?" Thomas asks.

Jim glances at him, "No not really."

"Want to talk about it?" Thomas offers.

Jim sighs, "I can't keep doing this, Tom…"

"Doing what?" Thomas questions.

"Killing people," Jim answers. "I've killed every one of Kodos' men who have crossed my path since this whole fiasco started… I've lived my whole life trying to save lives and now all I seem to do is end up taking them. Even on Tarsus, I didn't kill unless it was the last resort…"

"You've only ever killed to save lives, JT," Thomas points out. "Or in self-defence."

"But I killed them. How does that make me any different to Kodos?" Jim asks, sounding defeated.

Thomas grabs hold of Jim and spins him round to face him.

"You will never be like Kodos," Thomas meets and holds Jim's gaze. "You feel remorse for those you've killed, even when they deserved death. Kodos committed mass genocide and he still believes what he did was right… He still wants to kill those he believes to be inferior or immigrants."

"You know what they say, Tom," Jim mutters, looking away. "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

"You'll never be like him, JT, even if you live forever," Thomas replies, conviction evident in his tone.

"How can you be so sure?" Jim asks, looking unconvinced.

"Because I know you, JT," Thomas answers simply.

Jim smiles slightly and Thomas grins at him.

"Come on," Thomas nodes down the hallway. "Your crew's waiting for you and I'm sure if we're gone much longer, that doctor friend of yours is going to do me bodily harm."

"Bones is positively harmless, as long as he doesn't have a hypo," Jim laughs, as they continue walking.

"I'd rather not take my chances," Thomas answers, causing Jim to laugh again.

"It's Uhura you've got to worry about," Jim mutters, sounding serious. "You don't want to get on her bad side… She's badass when she needs to be."

Thomas raised an eyebrow slightly, "It sounds like there's a story to go with that."

"There is," Jim grins. "But you're not hearing it from me."

The two of them stop as they wait for the door they had come to a halt before, to slide open. Stepping through the door, Jim was greeted by the sight of his senior crew sitting around a table waiting for him.

XxX

**JT twitched uncontrollably every couple of seconds. Kang had entered the room no more than five hours ago, not that JT could be entirely sure about that, and injected something into his arm with a hypo. Whatever it had been, had stung as it travelled through his veins, turning them black and discolouring the skin… It had to be some kind of poison.**

**The effects of whatever it was, hadn't lasted long but couldn't get the images from the hallucinations out of his head and the uncontrollable twitch that had been left in the poisons' wake, was being to get on JT's nerves. **

**Every twitch caused more pain.**

**JT forced his eyes open and looked up at the mirrored ceiling above him. He needed to escape and he needed to escape soon. He no longer had any idea of how long he has been held prisoner… The things they had been injected him with had caused him to lose track of time, as he could never be certain how long the effects lasted.**

**The room had no windows and even if it did, JT had no idea where he was, so he wouldn't have even been able to use the sun to work out how many hours had passed, as not every planet had a twenty-four hour day like Earth.**

**All JT knew was that over the course of his torture, as that was the only word that could describe his treatment, the straps which held him had gradually become looser.**

**And again JT had a problem.**

**Being unable to tell how much time had passed meant he couldn't tell how long it was between visits from his torturers. If he timed his escape wrong, he could run straight into them and then he'd never get away.**

**Or they might just kill him. **

**JT still didn't know what they were actually using him for, he just knew it had something to do with eugenics, if Kang little speech from when they had first met was any indication.**

**Another twitch caused JT to groan in pain.**

**He wasn't even sure if he did get free of his restraints, he'd be able to get that far. He wasn't even sure he be able to sit up, let alone stand and walk anyway and the idea of running just made JT want to curl up in a ball and forget about the world.**

**Staring at the mirrored ceiling above him, JT hardly recognised himself. He was skinny, almost as skinny as he had been on Tarsus, and covered in dried and fresh blood alike. His hair was matted and dull in colour as well as damp with blood and sweat. **

**The lower half of his face was covered in dried blood and sick from where his nose had bled and the stuff they had injected him with had caused him to vomit… And on many occasions the vomit had had blood in it too.**

**The trousers he was wearing were beyond dirty and it wasn't just with blood. They didn't let him move to the use the toilet and his captors had only changed his clothing five times since he had first woken up on the table… He had never felt as worthless as he did in that moment.**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Does anyone know the movie Jim's saying came from? Well-done if you do. I also have a poll going at the moment, which is related to this story and future stories following on from this story, so please go to my profile if you wish to vote. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	71. Chapter 70

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Seventy:

**Kev glanced round nervously as he slowly sneaked through the ship, towards the small mess hall. He'd been on the ship for nearly a week now and he hadn't been caught yet. Nor did he have any idea where he was. The ship travelled fast, too fast for Kev to even try to identify the systems they were passing.**

**Glancing round one last time he stopped in the entrance to the mess hall, before he quickly crossed the room to the replicator. He hurriedly tapped in the code for what he needed and glanced over his shoulders every couple of seconds as he waited for the food he needed to be produced.**

**Sighing with relief, Kev quickly shoved the replicated food into the bag he had bought with him and hurried back towards the doorway he had entered the small mess hall through, only to find his path blocked by Lieutenant Malcolm Reed.**

**Kev stumbled backwards in surprise and fear. His eyes darted around the room looking for an escape route and luck was on his side as the door across the room opened and Trip entered, busy studying the PADD in his hands.**

"**Hey, Malcolm," Trip called. "Whatcha think of-"**

**Trip was cut off in surprise as Kev dived past him and through the closing door behind him. Trip spun round to try and catch a glimpse of who had just run past him, only to come face to face with a closed door.**

"**I do believe that was Kevin Riley," Malcolm spoke up, making his way over to Trip.**

"**One of the Tarsus survivors?" Trip questioned. "How'd he get aboard? Didn't his grandparents pick him up?"**

**Malcolm shrugged one shoulder slightly, "I'll comm Dr Phlox. He was one of the few people the survivors seemed to trust."**

**Trip nodded and glanced back at the door Kev had escaped through. **

"**I'll talk to ya about this later," Trip waved his PADD, as he turned back to Malcolm.**

**Malcolm nodded and walked over the comm panel on the wall.**

"**Dr Phlox, could you join me in the mess hall?" Malcolm spoke into the intercom.**

"_**I'm on my way,**_**" Dr Phlox answered after a second.**

**Meanwhile Kev was running through the hallways of the ship. The ship wasn't that large and it didn't take Kev that long to circle back round to the crew quarters and lock himself in the room he had been hiding in. Once the door had locked, Kev collapsed to his knees and gasped for breath. **

**He been seen.**

**They knew he was aboard.**

**Kev shut his eyes and began to take deep breaths. They were not Kodos' men. They were going to look for him, but they weren't going to hurt him when they found him. They weren't Kodos' men. They weren't going to try and kill him.**

**Opening his eyes, Kev crawled across the floor and hid under the bed. Keeping the food he had just stolen close to his chest, he turned his attention towards the locked door and waited. It was only a matter of time before they found him.**

XxX

_Thomas raised an eyebrow slightly, "It sounds like there's a story to go with that."_

"_There is," Jim grins. "But you're not hearing it from me."_

_The two of them stop as they wait for the door they had come to a halt before, to slide open. Stepping through the door, Jim was greeted by the sight of his senior crew sitting around a table waiting for him._

No sooner had Jim taken his seat beside McCoy, Jim jumps backwards in his seat away from the medical scanner which suddenly appears in his line of sight.

"Bones!" Jim exclaims. "Seriously?!"

McCoy lowers the medical scanner and quickly examines its results, before nodding to himself and sitting back in his chair. Out the corner of his eye, Jim could see Sulu grinning at the exchange and almost rolled his eyes.

"That reminds me of that time in the lab back on Planet Q," Thomas chuckles.

Jim turns and looks at him.

"Oh, don't remind me," Jim mutters, hiding his head in his hands, thinking back to incident Thomas was referring to, from when the two of them had worked together before Jim had joined Starfleet.

Thomas grins at Jim and laughs at the glare Jim sends him through his figures.

"What happened on Planet Q?" Sulu asks, looking between Thomas and Jim.

"Nothing," Jim answers quickly, shooting a warning look at Thomas.

Thomas quickly raises his hands in surrender, "Don't worry, JT, your secrets are safe with me… You have far more dirt on me, than I have on you."

Jim grins, "The bonus of having Number One as a godmother."

Thomas mutters something under his breath and Jim reaches across and punches his arm lightly. Thomas looks up, meets Jim's gaze and smiles slightly and shakes his head. But Jim can see the pain in his eyes… Losing his wife had really hit him hard and Jim was honesty worried about him.

"Captain," Spock clears his throat from across the table.

"Yes, Mr Spock," Jim replies turning his attention to Spock and giving Spock a questioning look.

"I…" Spock begins, but pauses unsure how to approach the topic of Tarsus IV and convey his sorrow about all Jim had lost and all he had suffered on that cursed planet.

"What Spock is trying to say is," Uhura quickly fills the silence which had fallen upon the room. "We're sorry about what happened to you."

Jim snorts, "It's hardly the first time I've been abducted, Uhura. I didn't even get tortured this time, which is always a win in my book!"

"We're not talking about that, laddie," Scotty pipes up.

Jim frowns slightly, "Then what are you talking about?"

"We know you were on Tarsus, Keptin," Chekov answers, he voice void of its usual cheerfulness.

Jim could feel his heart hammering in his chest.

No, no, no! This wasn't possible! They couldn't have found out about Tarsus! They couldn't know! He didn't want them to know! He didn't want anyone to know! How could they have found out?! Nobody was supposed to know about it, least of all them!

Bones was the only one who knew, the only one Jim trusted with such information and Jim knew he'd never break that confidence.

"Who told you?" Jim demands, with a false sense of calm.

"Admiral Archer deemed it necessary for us to be informed of the events which occurred on Tarsus IV," Spock answers.

"He had no right!" Jim all but growls, getting up from his seat and slamming his hands down on the table. "You had no right to know!"

"JT!" Thomas snaps in a warning tone, sensing Jim's rising anger.

Jim turns and looks at Thomas before turning and storming out the room. He needed to get out of there before he lost control of his anger and did something he'd later regret. It wasn't often he lost his temper, but when he did… The best option was to run and get as far away as possible.

"Let him go," Thomas warns the senior crew, as they move to go after their captain. "Give him some time to calm down."

XxX

**Captain Christopher Pike walked across the small garden area towards the officer's housing. He'd been given a small apartment on his return to Earth. Not that Chris was planning to hang around and use it. He wanted to go back out into space and exploring the unknown.**

**But it'd be a while before Starfleet approached him with an offer for another mission, he knew. They was no doubt they'd want him to spend a few years teaching at the academy, before sending him back out into uncharted space. **

**He understood why, but that didn't stop him from longing to get back out into the black.**

**He knew what Starfleet would do. Have him teach for a year or two and send him back out for a three year mission, once he'd passed on his hard learnt knowledge to the next generation. Then he'd be back on Earth teaching once more and once his knowledge had been passed again, he'd get a five year mission and at the end of it, he'd be offered the rank of Admiral no doubt.**

"**Chris!" A cheerful voice broke him out of his thoughts.**

**Chris turned and smiled as he spotted Jonathan Archer making his way over to him.**

"**Jon," Chris greeted, as Archer drew level with him. "The Tucker's have you babysitting again, I see."**

**Archer looked down at Elizabeth, who was stood beside him studying Christopher Pike.**

"**Yes," Archer answered. "The two of them are currently dealing with a personal matter and deemed it too dangerous for Elizabeth to join them."**

**Chris shot Archer a questioning look.**

"**The personal matter has taken them away from Earth," Archer explained.**

"**She was raised on a starship," Chris pointed out, with a slight shake of his head. "I still don't know how they managed to convince the Admiralty to allow that."**

**Archer chuckled, "Together Trip and T'Pol can achieve anything."**

"**Would you care to join me for lunch?" Chris offered, after a slight pause in their conversation. "I've just got to run up my apartment, then I'll be hiking over to that café near the bridge."**

"**Which one?" Archer asked, with a slight grin.**

"**You know the one," Chris answered.**

"**How about we meet you there?" Archer offered. "It's going to get a bit chilly later and Elizabeth doesn't have a coat."**

**Chris nodded, "I'll see you there then."**

**Chris watched for a moment as Archer and Elizabeth walked away. He couldn't help but feel like Archer was purposely keeping the details of the Tucker's absence vague. After a moment he shrugged to himself and turned back the way he had been heading. The Tucker's had a right to their privacy, so who was he to try and pry into their personal business? **

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	72. Chapter 71

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Seventy-one:

**JT blinked his eyes open, as he eyes refused to adjust to dimly lit room around him. He stared up at the mirrored ceiling and tried to work out what had happened, but his mind was foggy and he couldn't focus on anything for too long.**

**All he knew was the unbearable pain in his head was gone.**

**Taking a deep breath, JT looked around the room, using the mirrored ceiling. Those who had once tortured him, still dressed in their medical scrubs and surgical masks, were lying on the floor around the table he was strapped to, dead. But JT couldn't remember what had happened and there were no clear marks on their bodies to show how they'd died.**

**JT shut his eyes and tried to think. The last thing he remembered was being injected with something and the pressure in his head exploding in a wave of white hot pain, right behind his eyes. **

**He'd passed out screaming in agony.**

**But what had happened between then and him regaining consciousness? And why wasn't he dead too? If someone had killed them, why was he still alive? Or if a poison had been released into the air? Maybe it was the water… That's what Kodos had done on Tarsus.**

**Shaking his head, JT tried to clear his mind and focus. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. Now was the perfect opportunity to escape. Taking a deep breath, JT began to pull at the already slightly loose straps which held him.**

**It didn't take him long to get one of his hands free. **

**Reaching across, JT pulled the strap around his other wrist open. His body just ached, it no longer hurt like it did before and JT had no idea whether that was a good sign or not. But he had a feeling it was a bad sign.**

**Clumsily JT freed himself from the strap across his chest. His hands were beginning to go numb and a tingling sensation was beginning to spread up his arms. He couldn't even feel the pain as he removed the straps which held him and they knocked the bloody wounds they had created.**

**Slowly JT forced himself to sit up. **

**He let out a gasp as the movement caused a sudden pain to shot through his body, as he used muscles which hadn't been used in a while. He quickly set to work on freeing his legs and feet, ignoring the pain it caused, before slowly swinging his legs over the side of the table. **

**Taking a deep breath, JT pushed himself off the table and for a moment he stood there. The next thing JT knew he was on his hands and knees, with his whole body trembling from the strain. He only just had time to turn his head to the side as his arms gave way and his cheek made contact with the floor. **

**Groaning, JT forced himself to roll onto his side.**

**He had never felt so weak.**

**After a moment JT rolled back over and forced himself back onto his hands and knees and slowly began to crawl towards the door. His arms were shaking uncontrollably as he slowly shuffled along the ground. Every muscle in his body was protesting against the movements he was making, but JT's power of will was stronger.**

**After what seemed like a lifetime, JT finally reached the door. Gasping against the pain which raged through his body, JT slowly reached up and hit the button he'd seen his tortures use to open the door. For a moment nothing happened and just as JT was about to give up hope, the door opened.**

XxX

_Jim turns and looks at Thomas before turning and storming out the room. He needed to get out of there before he lost control of his anger and did something he'd later regret. It wasn't often he lost his temper, but when he did… The best option was to run and get as far away as possible._

"_Let him go," Thomas warns the senior crew, as they move to go after their captain. "Give him some time to calm down."_

Jim storms through hallways of the starbase, hardly paying attention to what is going on around him and who he is passing. He was sure he passed a few members of his crew, but as he hadn't been paying attention, he had no idea who had called about to him as he passed.

Finally Jim comes to a stop in an isolated and quiet hallway.

He paces up and down for a couple of seconds, before spinning to face the wall. Without warning Jim punches the wall, ignoring the pain that shots through his hand and the bloody imprint his knuckles leave on the wall and spins away from the wall, his breathing ragged.

And as suddenly as his anger had come, it leaves him and Jim takes a step backwards and slides down the wall of the hallway he's in and draws his knees to his chest. He stares down at his bloody hand, simply thankful it wasn't the one that had been recently healed and that the adrenaline rushing through his veins was keeping the pain at bay.

He'd no doubt got a 'Boxers Fracture', an injury which had gotten its name from when boxing had been a popular sport, not to say boxing wasn't still popularity in some Earth regions, and boxers hadn't worn protective hand gear. The injury was usual caused by punching an immovable object, which a wall just happened to be, with a closed fist.

Jim knew it was unlikely his knuckles were just bruised, he'd hit the wall hard enough to split the skin over his knuckles open and the wound was still bleeding, so he'd definitely broken a couple of bones on impact. Jim simply watched as the blood run down the back of his hand, watching the trail of blood with an odd sense of fascination.

"What'd the wall ever do to you, Kirk?" A voice startles Jim.

Glancing up, Jim grins.

"Cupcake!" He greets.

Hendorff almost rolled his eyes as he joins Jim on the floor.

"What's up, Blondie?" Hendorff asks, once he's seated on the floor beside Jim.

"What makes you think something's up?" Jim asks, taking a defensive tone.

"You just tried to put your fist through a wall," Hendorff points out. "So…?"

"It's nothing," Jim mutters, shutting his eyes and resting his head back against the wall.

"It's clearly something," Hendorff argues.

"I don't want to talk about it, Cupcake," Jim answers.

Hendorff sighs and leans back against the wall and glances down the hallway.

"You chose a good spot to assault the wall," Hendorff mutters. "No witnesses, not that the wall's likely to press charges…"

Jim laughs and opens his eyes and looks across to Hendorff, "And no one ever believes me when I say you have a sense of humour."

Hendorff grins at Jim for a moment, before turning his attention to the wall opposite them.

"When we were at the academy," Hendorff begins. "I got sent on a training mission… It wasn't far, just to the Australian outback for survival training."

Jim frowns slightly and watches Hendorff. He couldn't know could he?

"I remember," Jim mutters. "You were gone for a month."

Hendorff nodes and continues to stare at the wall.

"There was an accident," Hendorff continues. "The guy I was paired with, he… He died."

Jim reaches across and places a comforting hand on Hendorff shoulder.

"I'm just trying to say, I know what it feels like to lose someone like that," Hendorff turns to face Jim. "I wasn't even close to the guy, but it was all I could think about for months afterwards… Seeing Lieutenant Riley's body being moved, it just reminded of that. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thanks," Jim mutters, ducking his head. "It means a lot."

"Well, I hate to break up the party," A voice interrupts. "But Kodos still wants you dead, Kirk."

XxX

**Dr Phlox slowly lowered himself to the floor in the quarters Kev was hiding in. He could see Kev hiding under the bed, his whole body shaking as he watched Dr Phlox warily. He had a bag clutched to his chest and Dr Phlox was sure it contained food.**

**Sitting still, Dr Phlox waited. **

**He knew trying to force Kev out from under the bed he was using as a hiding place, would only make the situation worse. And his patience was rewarded. As close to an hour after Dr Phlox had sat down, Kev slowly crawled out from under the bed and moved to sit opposite Dr Phlox. Kev sat far enough away from Dr Phlox, that he could run and escape if he needed too.**

"**They wanted to take me away," Kev finally spoke up. "They wanted to stop me from seeing the others."**

"**Who?" Dr Phlox asked.**

"**My grandparents," Kev answered.**

"**They must be worried about you," Dr Phlox pointed out after a moment. "Why didn't you just tell them the truth?"**

"**Because they wouldn't have listened," Kev answered, staring down at the floor. "If they wouldn't listen to a doctor, why would the listen to me?"**

**Dr Phlox stared at Kev, unsure about what he should say. One wrong word could destroy the fragile trust Kev had in him.**

"**I just want to see JT again," Kev suddenly sobbed. "They wouldn't let me see him again. But I have to see him again. He saved my life. He's my best friend. He's my brother!"**

"**You will see him again," Dr Phlox reassured Kev.**

**Kev nodded with a sniff.**

"**Now why don't we go back to the mess hall and we'll get you a nice hot meal?" Dr Phlox suggested.**

"**Won't they be angry I sneaked aboard?" Kev questioned nervously.**

"**Nonsense," Dr Phlox shook his head.**

**Kev looked at Dr Phlox for a moment, like he wasn't sure whether he could believe what Dr Phlox had said.**

"**Okay," Kev finally nodded.**

**Dr Phlox smiled and got to his feet and Kev slowly followed suit, still slightly wary and clutching the bag of food to his chest tightly.**

**Dr Phlox hummed happily to himself as he and Kev walked through the halls of the ship, towards the mess hall and all the while Kev stared at him as if he had lost his mind. How could the doctor be so happy? After everything that had happened and everything he had seen whilst helping those rescued from Tarsus, how could he be so cheerful?**

"**Dr Phlox?" Kev questioned quietly, as he followed a couple of steps behind the doctor.**

"**Yes," Dr Phlox answered.**

"**Will I really see JT again?" Kev asked.**

"**I believe you will," Dr Phlox nodded.**

"**But what if Kodos' men killed him?" Kev shivered slightly as he spoke.**

"**I have reason to believe they haven't," Dr Phlox replied. "JT is still alive."**

**Kev stared at Dr Phlox for a moment, something in his tone told Kev he knew what he was taking about. Kev nodded to himself and smiled slightly. He was going to see JT again and JT would ensure his grandparents never stopped him from seeing the others.**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	73. Chapter 72

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Seventy-two:

**T'Pol opened her eyes to find Trip kneeling over her with a worried expression on his face. A look of relief passed over his face as her eyes met his and she could see his mouth moving but couldn't hear what he was saying over the ringing in her ears.**

**Slowly T'Pol forced herself to sit up. **

**She frowned ever so slightly as she tried to work out what had happened. The last thing she remembered was a sudden pain which flared up within her skull. It had been so painful, she had almost screamed and no matter how hard she tried to shield against it, she had been powerless to stop it.**

**But the pain hadn't come from her own body, it had come through the bond she shared with JT. Panic suddenly shot through her, before she managed to get her emotional response under control.**

**She couldn't feel JT through the bond.**

**She tried to reach out to him through the bond but there was nothing there, just an empty space where his mind should have been. Panic began to grip her again, before a pair of hands cupped her face and a sense of calm washed over her.**

**She looked up and met Trip's gaze.**

"**JT," T'Pol whispered. "I cannot feel him."**

**She watched as Trip's eyes widened and he turned away from her and yelled something at Travis, but T'Pol couldn't hear him over the ringing in her ears, which was refusing to fade away. T'Pol blinked only to find Trip's gaze on her again. He was speaking but she still couldn't hear him, so she tried to read his lips.**

'_**Dr Phlox is on his way,**_**' He was saying. '**_**Just hold on. He'll be here soon**_**.'**

**Was she injured? Shutting her eyes, T'Pol tried to focus on working that out. Only to open them as she felt Trip's hands leave her face and found Dr Phlox kneeling before her running a medical scanner over her.**

'_**I need to get her to sick bay immediately,**_**' Dr Phlox informed Trip, who was kneeling beside her. '**_**She hit her head when she fell.**_**'**

**Dr Phlox reached forward and touched the side of T'Pol head. He pulled his hand back and T'Pol noticed his medical glove were covered in green blood, but Dr Phlox's blood wasn't green. In her slightly disoriented state, it took T'Pol a couple of seconds to realise the blood was her own.**

**Suddenly there was an arm around her and Trip was helping her to her feet and generally leading her towards sick bay. Dr Phlox walked ahead of her, studying the information his scanner had given him and he was no doubt muttering to himself.**

**Turning her head to the side, T'Pol watched Trip.**

**Slowly she reached up and traced her index and middle finger across Trip's cheek bone and a warm sensation shot up her arm and for a moment the jumbled mess, which seemed to make perfect sense, which were Trip's thought echoed through her head.**

**Trip reached up and slowly lowered T'Pol's hand from his face. He smiled at her and T'Pol found herself struck by the love she could see in Trip's eyes when he looked at her. He shook his head at her, but didn't let go of her hand.**

'_**Dr Phlox will have you fixed up in no time,**_**' Trip muttered, as T'Pol watched his lips.**

**They reached the ship's sick bay and Trip quickly guided her over to one of the bio-beds. And even once she was seated on the bio-bed, Trip still didn't let go of her hand.**

XxX

"_I'm just trying to say, I know what it feels like to lose someone like that," Hendorff turns to face Jim. "I wasn't even close to the guy, but it was all I could think about for months afterwards… Seeing Lieutenant Riley's body being moved, it just reminded of that. I'm sorry for your loss."_

"_Thanks," Jim mutters, ducking his head. "It means a lot."_

"_Well, I hate to break up the party," A voice interrupts. "But Kodos still wants you dead, Kirk."_

Hendorff goes to move but the owner of the voice is faster, using their weapon to knock Hendorff out cold with a single movement. Jim watches Hendorff fall, his earlier anger returning for a moment as he turns towards the owner of the voice, only to stop.

Jim stares at the owner of the voice, frowning slightly as he refuses to move further from his spot on the floor. She was going to kill him either way so what did it matter? Running wasn't an option at such close range and she was obviously expecting him to attack or make a move of some kind.

"Brown," Jim greets after a second, staring at the pair of guards she has behind her and purposely not using her rank from when she had aboard the Enterprise.

Brown smiles at Jim and twirls the weapon in her hand.

"Captain," She replies.

The two guards on either side of her move forward and grab hold of Jim, pulling him to his feet.

"I must admit, Captain," Brown mocks. "I was expecting you to put up more of a fight."

Jim grins at her, "Who's to say this isn't part of my plan, Brown."

Brown just laughs and begins leading the way, as the guards drag Jim along and straight away Jim knows where they're heading. They're heading towards the part of the starbase that had been damaged when Kodos' men had attacked.

"Killing me isn't going to achieve anything, Brown," Jim mutters as he's dragged along. "Kodos has been caught, nothing is going to change that. They don't need me alive in order to put him on trial and hold him responsible for his crimes."

"You don't understand," Brown explains. "Once you're dead, the revolution will finally be successful."

"What about Tom?" Jim challenges. "He's still alive and you know he's still alive. So while one of us is still alive, the revolution will never be successful."

"Did you ever see the list, Captain?" Brown asks, glancing at Jim as she waits for a door to open. "Did you ever see who was truly on that list and who wasn't?"

Jim stares at Brown as she continues walking and he's dragged along behind her.

She had to be lying.

There was no way Thomas hadn't been on the list. His whole family had been on that list. His entire family had died there. Jim shut his eyes for a second, if what Brown was implying was true, then Thomas should never have been there that day.

But what was worse, knowing you'd been chosen to live and your family hadn't, or living with the fact you should have died alongside your family, but survived?

XxX

"**Uncle Archer," Elizabeth mumbled, speaking in standard as she entered the living room of Archer's apartment, rather than Vulcan like she usually did.**

"**What's up, Elizabeth?" Archer asked, getting up from where he'd been sitting at the table going over some reports on his PADD.**

**Elizabeth just walked forward and wrapped her arms around Archer's waist. For a moment Archer stood still, before he returned Elizabeth's embrace. The only time he'd ever known Elizabeth to act this human was when she was ill.**

"**Are you feeling alright, Elizabeth?" Archer asked, rubbing circles on her back with one hand.**

"**My head hurts," Elizabeth muffled voice answered him.**

**Archer sighed and tried to think of what to do. In the past pain killers had never helped with Elizabeth's headaches and it was usually T'Pol and Trip who took care of Elizabeth when she was ill. Even Dr Phlox wasn't much of a help, unless it was a physical injury he could heal.**

"**We could try going to medical," Archer suggested.**

**Elizabeth shook her head and Archer sighed again. **

**He really had no idea what to do. Elizabeth headaches were usually caused by her telepathic abilities, so pain killers more often than not, had no affect and it wasn't an area Archer had much knowledge in.**

"**Come on, let's go sit down," Archer muttered.**

**But Elizabeth refused to let go of Archer, so Archer ended up doing an awkward shuffle over to the sofa. Sitting down, Archer watched with slight amusement as Elizabeth all but curled up on the sofa beside him, with cat like grace, still not letting go of him.**

**Archer smiled to himself as he started rubbing circles on Elizabeth's back once more. He'd never had the opportunity to settle down and have kids. He had been focused solely on his studies from a young age, so when Trip and T'Pol had made him an honorary uncle, it been one of the happiest moments of Archer life.**

**Of course he'd had the odd partner here and there and a couple of serious relationships whilst in higher education, but nothing too serious that it would have led to church bells, a white picket fence and the sound of small feet running in the hallway of the home.**

**And when he had joined Starfleet he'd only been focused on getting to the top. He was going to make Captain or die trying and his hard work had paid off. But it was both a blessing and a curse. His duties as a Captain had made it hard for him to maintain a relationship. **

**Not only were most of the crew off limits due to the difference in rank, but how could he know if someone was truly interested in him or just in his status as a Captain in the 'fleet? He was only thankful he'd been able to keep his pet dog aboard, but the poor fellow had passed away many years ago now and Archer just hadn't found them time to pick out a new dog.**

**He didn't care what anyone said. No two dogs had the same personality. For him it was impossible to go into a shop and simply pick the first dog which took his fancy. He had to find a dog which he was compatible with, a dog he could truly bond with. **

**Sighing Archer shook his head, he'd get another dog one day, maybe when he made Admiral. **

**It was only then Archer noticed Elizabeth had fallen asleep. Reaching across her as gently as he could, so not to disturb her, he pulled the folded blanket from where it was sat on the arm of the sofa and shook it out before placing it over Elizabeth.**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Not a very interesting chapter, I know, but I wanted to get some family time in between Archer and Elizabeth and explore the relationship between Trip and T'Pol a little more. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	74. Chapter 73

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Seventy-three:

**Malcolm knelt with his phaser ready, as he watched the entrance to the facility where T'Pol believed JT was being held. The planet they were on was completely abandoned and ruins of the civilization which had called the planet home, were scattered across the planet's surface. Whoever had once inhabited the planet were long gone and had been for many years.**

**Beside Malcolm, T'Pol was reading the data her tricorder had gathered. Her eyebrow furrowed slightly as she stared at the tricorders screen. According to the data, all humanoid begins within the vicinity were dead and had been for a few hours, if the weak heat signatures were anything to go by.**

**T'Pol turned to Malcolm and inclined her head. Malcolm answered with a single nod before, quickly moving forward towards the grey stone building. The building reminded Malcolm of a building he'd seen before, but he couldn't place where.**

**The only movement was from the faint wind, which whistled through the dead and dried out planets around them, as the two of them made there way through the barren landscape towards the building, with Malcolm at the lead.**

**Reaching the side of the building both Malcolm and T'Pol stood with their backs to the wall, while T'Pol took another reading with her tricorder. The results were the same. Everything within the vicinity, humanoid or otherwise, was dead.**

**T'Pol simply stared at the tricorder for second.**

**She refused to believe JT was really dead. **

**Ever since she had suffered from the head injury she had gained after she passed on the ship's bridge, she had been unable to feel JT. She had hoped it was simply her head injury which had caused her to be unable to feel JT through the bond and not the fact he was… **

**No! JT wasn't dead. **

**He couldn't be… They were so close to saving him.**

**Malcolm nodded to T'Pol and together they made their way towards the entrance of the building. The tricorder may have said everything around them was dead, but that didn't stop Malcolm from having his phaser at the ready, to fire at a moment's notice.**

**Entering the building took less time than T'Pol has expected and she flinched ever so slightly as she and Malcolm passed through the buildings entrance, the scent of death was so strong. There was a scent in the air that T'Pol knew was blood, but it wasn't the scent of human blood. Human blood had a unique metallic scent, almost like copper or iron.**

**But there were too many scents mixed together for her to identify which species it had came from. Her time working aboard various ships had allowed her to become familiar with the scent of blood, either from when an away missions had gone wrong or an accident had occurred in the science department. **

**The two of them walked through the hallways of the building, checking rooms as they passed them. It didn't take them long to discover the first body and it almost seemed the first body opened the floodgates, because after that everywhere they looked there were bodies. Most of which seemed to have been cut to pieces prior to death.**

**The only bodies which were in one piece, were dressed in matching uniforms or medical scrubs.**

**T'Pol entered a hallway and a body on the ground about halfway along the hallway, caught her attention. She slowly made her way towards it, stepping over other bodies to reach it. It was only as she drew closer she noticed the slight rising and falling of the person's chest as they breathed.**

"**JT," T'Pol whispered, as she recognised the unconscious form on the floor before her.**

XxX

_There was no way Thomas hadn't been on the list. His whole family had been on that list. His entire family had died there. Jim shut his eyes for a second, if what Brown was implying was true, then Thomas should never have been there that day._

_But what was worse, knowing you'd been chosen to live and your family hadn't, or living with the fact you should have died alongside your family, but survived?_

Thomas could tell Jim's crew were watching him, but he didn't even look up from the PADD he was looking at. Jim had every right to be angry with them. What they had done had been a breach of his trust and if Thomas had been in Jim place… In fact he wasn't even sure what he would have done.

It had taken him years to tell Martha about Tarsus IV. They had been happily married for most of those years too. So if he had found out his work colleagues had gone behind his back and learnt about a secret he kept closely guarded… He knew he wouldn't have reacted half as well as Jim had.

Thomas sighs to himself. Jim was angry though. Very angry. And who could blame him? But Thomas was worried about Jim. He'd made decisions in the past, in a moment of angry, and he hadn't liked the consequences of those decisions on many of the occasions.

But what could Jim do? Reprimand his crew? He'd have every right to. But would he go as far as to get them transferred? Probably not, Jim had hand-picked his crew because they were the best, not because they were his friends. But could Jim work alongside them now that they knew? Could he trust them the same as he had before?

Which left the question: was Jim angry and upset enough to quit Starfleet?

"Do you think the captain will forgive us?" Sulu suddenly asks.

"I wouldn't bank on it," Thomas answers, unable to stop himself.

"But-" Sulu went to reply, but Thomas cuts him off.

"There are not buts," Thomas glares at the command crew. "You broke his trust. He didn't want you to know, so you shouldn't know. It was up to him to tell you and him alone. You went behind his back and learnt one of his most closely guarded secrets… You betrayed his trust. Someone once told me, if JT trusts you, it is the greatest gift in the world, but if you gained his trust and then lost it, it's something you'd never be able to get back."

Jim's command crew sit in silence, each taking in what Thomas had just told them. Out of all of them, Dr McCoy looked the most troubled, as he absent-mindedly traced patterns on the tables surface. But Thomas knew the doctor had nothing to worry about, as far as he knew, Jim had already told McCoy about parts of what happened on Tarsus.

"Ze keptin ees very upset, da?" Chekov asks.

"Aye, laddie," Scotty answers.

Chekov nodes to himself, seemingly lost in thought for a moment before he looks up with a small smile on his face, but doesn't make any further comments. Uhura sighs and leans against Spock, who raises an eyebrow at Thomas. Thomas stared at him for a moment before turning his attention back to his PADD.

"Don't bothering asking," Thomas mutters after a moment. "Because I have no idea… I've never betrayed JT the way you have, so I've never had to seek his forgiveness."

"There must be something we can do," Sulu almost sounded desperate, as he stares at Thomas, who shrugs and continues to study his PADD.

"The only thing you can do is apologies and hope for the best," Thomas finally replies.

XxX

**Christopher Pike pulled back the chair for Number One as they reached their reserved table at one of the most exclusive restaurants in San Francisco. The place had a three year long waiting list and even then it wasn't a guaranteed reservation. Number One raised an eyebrow as Chris sat down across the table from her.**

"**What?" Chris questioned, noticing the look she was sending him.**

"**I'm curious," Number One replied, looking down at the menu a waiter had handed her. "How did you get a table at such short notice?"**

"**I made the reservation four years ago, in the hope that you'd join me for a meal at least once before I died, so I could die a happy man," Chris answered.**

**Number One simply raised her eyebrow higher, which Chris had previously thought was an impossible feat.**

"**The owner owes me a favour," Chris answered at last. "I helped out with a little issue she was having back a good few years ago. I decided now was the perfect time to cash in that favour and what do you know, she gave us the most expensive table in the place and it's all on the house."**

**Number One's lips twitched into a small smile, before she turned to the waiter and placed her order. Chris quickly did the same, before turning back to Number One and picking up his glass of wine and waving it around the room.**

"**Although I had hoped to take you to dinner alone," Chris muttered, before taking a sip of his wine and nodding in approval at the taste.**

"**I find it hard to believe you would actually think the favour would extend so far as to the owner closing down the entire restaurant, just so we could have a private meal together," Number One raised an eyebrow once more.**

"**That wasn't what I meant and you know," Chris answered, taking another sip of wine as their food arrived. "How many of your agents are here, watching us? I've counted five so far, but I'm sure that's not even half of them."**

**Number One looked at Chris, clearly impressed. Chris rolled his eyes at her and turned his attention to their food as he set down his glass.**

"**Do I want to know how they got reservations?" Chris asked after a moment, stabbing his fork into a weird look piece of food on his plate.**

"**It's probably best you don't," Number One muttered, taking a sip of her wine and eyeing up Chris's dish with a slightly disgusted look.**

**Chris looked up and laughed.**

"**Well," He said, holding up his wine glass in a toast, with a wicked grin on his face. "Here's to having a dinner they'll never forget."**

"**I do hope they'll still be able to look me in the eye afterwards," Number One gave a small smile as she knocked her glass against Chris's. "It'd be such a shame if my best agents were too embarrassed to ever look at me again."**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I hope you enjoyed the scene between Number One and Christopher Pike, I'm still trying to work out to portray their relationship accurately… Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	75. Chapter 74

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Seventy-four:

**Dr Phlox turned, startled as T'Pol entered the ship's small sick bay. In her arms she held the unconscious form of JT, who was covered in blood and multiple forms of dirt. Dr Phlox almost dropped the medical tool he was cleaning in shock before he quickly made his way over to a bio-bed and T'Pol gently laid JT down on it.**

**Immediately the monitor above the bed began screeching, as multiple alarms began to sound all at once. The screen above the bed showed JT's vitals and none of them were close to stable or healthy. **

**It didn't take long for Dr Phlox to complete a scan of JT's injuries and begin working on trying to treat the most serious of them, but it was near impossible to do anything with the amount of dried blood and dirt JT was covered in. Dr Phlox was silently amazed that only half of JT's injuries had become infected.**

"**I need to get him clean," Dr Phlox informed T'Pol. "Many of his injuries are already infected. If I am unable to stop the spread of the infection, it will kill him. His temperature is already too high."**

**T'Pol didn't need to be told twice. She hurried away and filled a bowl with clean cold water and grabbed a cloth, before returning to JT's side and began wiping away the blood and dirt which cover his skin. Even as she cleaned his wounds, blood was still oozing from his many wounds.**

**She and Dr Phlox worked in tandem. As soon as she had cleaned the dirt and blood from an area of JT's body, Dr Phlox cleaned the wounds with an iodine based solution before covering the wounds. The skin around many of JT's wounds was red and inflamed, meaning the infection had already began to set in.**

**More worryingly, Dr Phlox noticed a fair few of JT's deeper wounds, were leaking pus. This showed the infection had already taken root in the injury and would be far harder to treat then his other injuries. **

**Picking up an antibiotic spray, Dr Phlox began spraying the wounds that had been cleaned, before covering them. The sooner he started combating the infection, the better. Even as it currently was, JT would have to be on a strong course of antibiotics for many weeks... If he recovered. **

**Glancing up at the screen above JT's bio-bed, Dr Phlox could see JT's temperature was still too high. And as Dr Phlox turned back to the job in hand, he noticed T'Pol fold a damp, cold cloth and place it on JT's forehead, before turning her attention back to cleaning the blood and dirt from JT's body.**

**Once JT's body was finally clean and Dr Phlox had treated JT's body to the best of his ability and hooked JT up to a drip to get as much fluid as possible back onto JT's body and help reduce his fever high temperature, Dr Phlox looked down at JT and still couldn't believe someone would do such terrible things to a child. **

**JT's injuries clearly told the story of what had happened to him in the time he had been missing and Dr Phlox could see the anger burning in T'Pol's eyes as she gently placed a hand to the side of JT's face and whispered something to him in Vulcan.**

**Trip suddenly appeared at Dr Phlox's side.**

"**Will he be alright?" Trip asked worriedly.**

"**He needs specialist treatment," Dr Phlox answered. "And this ship is nowhere near equipped enough to deal with his injuries properly."**

"**I'll let Travis know to pick up the speed," Trip muttered, still staring at JT as he turned to leave.**

"**He will not survive long enough to reach Earth without the proper treatment," Dr Phlox stopped Trip. "But he can receive the treatment he needs at Starbase Nine."**

"**Then that's where we'll go," Trip said.**

XxX

"_Don't bothering asking," Thomas mutters after a moment. "Because I have no idea… I've never betrayed JT the way you have, so I've never had to seek his forgiveness."_

"_There must be something we can do," Sulu almost sounded desperate, as he stares at Thomas, who shrugs and continues to study his PADD._

"_The only thing you can do is apologies and hope for the best," Thomas finally replies._

Jim lets out a wince as he's forced to his knees. He almost wondered if Kodos' men were incapable of doing anything gently. Brown stands in front of him and stares down at him, causing Jim to fidget slightly.

There's something in her gaze that Jim couldn't quiet work out the meaning of.

"So…" Jim mutters, after a long moment. "Are you going to kill me or not?"

Brown stares at Jim for a moment before pulling a Starfleet issue phaser out.

"If I was you, Captain," She said, as she changed the setting on her phaser. "I wouldn't be so eager to die."

"Well, you're not me, so can you just get on with it," Jim answers, almost casually. "I don't have all day to sit around and wait for you to kill me."

Brown smiles at him and Jim suddenly had the feeling he'd missed something, which didn't happen very often.

"Indeed," Brown nodes. "You're a Starfleet Captain after all and if I leave it too long your loving and loyal crew will no doubt track you down and save you."

Jim watches Brown and frowns slightly… Yep, he'd definitely missed something important.

Suddenly Brown turns and points her phaser at one of the guards and pulls the trigger and Jim only just registers what is happening in time to force himself backwards and out of the line of fire as the second guard attempts to shot him, before Brown kills them too.

Jim had hardly felt the bullet that grazed along the front of his forehead as he had quickly forced himself backwards away from the gun. And as he looks to the side at the guard, only to see the guard's already dead, killed by Brown, it's only then he notices the blood as drops run into his eyes.

Reaching up, Jim wipes the blood away, but it's quickly replaced by more as his wound continues to bleed. Glancing up, Jim finds Brown watching him with a slightly worried expression on her face, before she turns and glances back along the hallway.

"We need to move," Brown turns back to Jim. "Those two aren't the only ones here."

"Why?" Jim asks, as he forces himself to his feet. "Why did you do that?"

Brown moves forward and grabs Jim's arm as he stumbles slightly and raises a hand to his head wound.

"You need to get that treated," Brown mutters, almost to herself. "But it's too dangerous to go back now and I've never been good at anything medical, unlike my dad."

Jim winces at the mention of Nurse Brown.

"You didn't answer the question," Jim points out.

"You're a good man, Jim Kirk," Brown answers. "Day after day, mission after mission, I've seen you risk your life for your crew, when many others wouldn't… How could the man Kodos made me believe you were, do that? So after I joined the Enterprise, I decided to do some research. Everything Kodos had told me was a lie. My dad died after he went back to save you, so how could I let his sacrifice be in vain?"

XxX

**Elizabeth's startled look made Trip chuckle to himself as he watched his daughter. Elizabeth was sat at the desk in Archer's study, having heard the beeping of the incoming call alert from the main room.**

"_**So just what are ya doing in Archer's study answerin' his calls?**_**" Trip asked.**

**Elizabeth looked down at the desk in front of her, in order to avoid meeting her father gaze through the screen.**

"_**Oh, come on, pumpkin,**_**" Trip laughed. "**_**I'm just teasin' ya.**_**"**

**Elizabeth up at the screen to find her dad grinning at her. She smiled ever so slightly and Trip's grin widened.**

"_**Is Uncle Archer there at all?**_**" Trip asked.**

**Elizabeth nodded. **

"**He is cooking," She answered, causing Trip to frown as she was speaking standard not Vulcan like she usually did.**

"_**Ya feelin' okay, pumpkin?**_**" Trip asked, worried.**

**Elizabeth nodded, "I am fine."**

**Trip stared at his daughter for a second before finally nodding.**

"_**Well then, could ya go and grab Uncle Archer?**_**" Trip questioned. "**_**I need to talk to him.**_**"**

**But Elizabeth had no need to do so, because at that exact moment Archer entered the study, wiping his hands on a towel, about to inform Elizabeth that their meal for evening was cooked, ready to eat and dished up on the table, until he caught sight of Trip on the screen.**

"**Trip!" Archer greeted with friendly tone.**

"_**Jon,**_**" Trip answered. "**_**We found him. We found JT.**_**"**

**Archer lent forward and rested a hand on the table, as he breathed a sigh of relief and shut his eyes for a second.**

**They had found JT.**

**He was safe.**

"**How's he doing?" Archer asked, finally looking back at the screen.**

**Trip shook his head slightly.**

"_**He's in bad way,**_**" Trip explained. "**_**We're takin' him to Starbase Nine. Dr Phlox believes he wouldn't survive long enough to return to Earth for treatment… How could anyone do that to a kid?! You should see him! I've seen grown men die from less!**_**"**

**Archer reached up and rubbed a hand across his face as he tried to stop his mind from dreaming up the possible scenarios of what JT had been though, all of which involved pain, blood and death. But JT was alive. He was alive and Archer had to take comfort in that.**

"**I'll begin looking for transportation to Starbase Nine in the morning," Archer finally replied. "Starfleet should be able to give us priority transportation…"**

**Trip nodded, "**_**We'll be arrivin' at the base in less than five hours… Dr Phlox is sure JT will make a full recovery, but it may take a bit more time than any of us would like.**_**"**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I personally think 'Uncle Archer' sounds better than 'Uncle Jon', but if anyone disagrees let me know and I might change it. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	76. Chapter 75

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Seventy-five:

**Dragomirov hurried along the hallway towards Number One's office. In his hands he held a PADD, which contained the information which Number One would be most eager to hear. When Dragomirov had first seen the alert come up, he almost hadn't believed what he had been seeing.**

**JT had been missing for a while with absolutely no information to be found which could even guess at where he had been taken and now an alert had come through, showing JT had just been checked into the medical facility on Starbase Nine.**

**It had seemed almost too good to be true.**

**So Dragomirov had checked the surveillance footage from the starbase and it really had been true. JT had been bought in by a small number of the senior crew from the ship which had recused him from Tarsus IV. It seemed they had gone against Starfleet wishes and as a result gone after JT on their own, which was a highly dangerous thing to do.**

**But what Dragomirov couldn't work out was how they had found JT. Starfleet Intelligence had been unable to find JT with all the resources and intelligence information they had from all over the federation and beyond in many cases. **

**So how had they found him?**

**But that was a question Dragomirov could ponder another time as he nodded a quickly greeting to Number One's personal assistant/secretary, who waved him past with a smile. He reached Number One's office door in a couple of steps and quickly knocked.**

"**Come in," Number One's voice answered Dragomirov's knock.**

**Dragomirov quickly opened the door and stepped into Number One's office and nodded a greeting to her, before turning to shut the door behind him.**

"**What do you need, Agent Dragomirov?" Number One asked, as Dragomirov turned back around and made his way over to her desk.**

"**JT has been found," Dragomirov answered, holding out his PADD.**

**Number One quickly reached across the table and took the PADD from Dragomirov's hands. She quickly switched the PADD on read the information displayed on the screen.**

"**Where is this?" Number One asked looking up from the surveillance footage the PADD had displayed.**

"**Starbase Nine," Dragomirov replied.**

**Number One nodded and looked back down at the PADD, even with the low quality footage, she could see JT wasn't in a good state of health.**

"**Where was he found?" Number One suddenly demanded in a rage filled voice.**

"**We don't know," Dragomirov answered. "But there is a team working on it. The ship they used has a unique trace, we should be able to track exactly where it had been. Also a team is about to be sent to Starbase Nine, they will be conducting interviews with those who saved JT."**

**Number One nodded. Tracing the ship probably seemed a little excessive to most people when someone could simply ask those who rescued JT where they had saved him from. But in Number One's line of work, it wasn't very often someone actually told the truth.**

"**No need," Number One replied, getting to her feet. "I'll be traveling to the starbase."**

**Dragomirov stared at Number One.**

"**He's is my godson," Number One continued. "I will not fail him this time too."**

XxX

"_You're a good man, Jim Kirk," Brown answers. "Day after day, mission after mission, I've seen you risk your life for your crew, when many others wouldn't… How could the man Kodos made me believe you were, do that? So after I joined the Enterprise, I decided to do some research. Everything Kodos had told me was a lie. My dad died after he went back to save you, so how could I let his sacrifice be in vain?"_

Jim walks side by side with Brown, as they make their way along the halls which made up the ruined side of the starbase. Brown had given him a piece of fabric to keep pressed to his head wound as they walked and the bleeding had slowed down quite a bit since then.

"So how many are actually left?" Jim asks, referring to Kodos' men.

"Five," Brown answers. "They remained on the starbase after the attack."

Jim nodes to himself as he tries to come up with a plan as he walks, but his head was hurting too much for him to concentrate. He wasn't even sure if any plans he would come up with would work. He wasn't thinking clearly enough. Maybe his head injury was more serious than he had originally thought.

Jim glances at Brown for a moment, before speaking.

"Do you have a communicator?" Jim questions.

"Yes," Brown answers. "But it is only tuned into the frequency Kodos' men are using."

Jim nodes, "Comm them."

"What?" Brown asks.

"Comm them," Jim repeats himself. "Tell them I've escaped and fled deeper into the damaged part of the starbase."

Brown hesitates.

"Do it," Jim orders.

Brown pulls out her communicator and flips it open and opens the communication channel and informs the remainder of Kodos' men that Jim had escaped and fled.

"They'll be here in half an hour. Now what?" Brown asks, as she snaps her communicator shut, once Kodos' men had informed her that they were on their way and stares at Jim.

Jim smiles slightly and walks over to a damaged intercom on the wall near them. The panels were slightly damaged and some of the wiring had been exposed, but Jim had no doubt he could get the intercom working again in less than fifteen minutes.

"Now we contact security," Jim answers with a slight smile.

And with that Jim set to work on rewiring and fixing the intercom panel and it was much harder than it looked, but still easy for someone with Jim's skill level. Most of the wired had been very badly damaged and were still live, sparking every now and again, which created an extra challenge.

Finally Jim takes a step back, satisfied with his work. He quickly begins to type some sort of code into the intercom, before the screen flickers for a second and Jim quickly finds the frequency he needs to contact the security officers present on the starbase.

Brown watches as Jim quickly informs the officers about what's happening with a series of code words and reference to things that seemed to have no relevance to what was going on or any situation Brown could think off. Maybe Jim's head injury was more serious than she originally thought. But the security officers seemed to get the picture of what was going on.

"Let's move," Jim mutters as he ends the communication and turns to Brown as the sound of running feet reach their ears.

XxX

**Kev stood in the doorway of the private medical room JT had been placed in. He hadn't believed it was possible, but JT actually looked worse than he had when he had been rescued from Tarsus. He was hooked up to multiple machines, all of which were vital to his survival.**

**From what Kev has over heard, JT was currently fighting for his life against a serious infection and the machines he was hooked up to contained all the different kinds of medicine he needed in order to survive.**

**Walking across the room, Kev sat down in the seat beside JT's bed. **

**He didn't know what to do or say. **

**The doctor who was helping Dr Phlox with JT's treatment had said that he could talk to JT and that JT would hear him and that hearing the voices of people he knew would help him… But what could Kev say?**

**Everything Kev wanted to talk about linked back to one of the most traumatic times in both of their lives. How was talking about that going to help JT? Because sometimes Kev wished he could fall asleep and never wake up, because then he wouldn't ever have to think or talk about Tarsus IV ever again.**

**Kev glanced up as a nurse walked into the room and began checking on JT. Kev watched as they checked all the machines JT was hooked up to, before typing something into a PADD and turning to leave. They paused in the door way and turned back to look at Kev.**

"**You can hold his hand," The nurse told him. "I'm sure your brother won't mind."**

**Kev stared at them as they then turned and quickly left the room. He turned his attention to JT and slowly reached out and took one of JT's hands in his own, almost scared someone was going to burst into the room and start yelling at him for doing so.**

"**JT…" Kev whispered. "Please wake up. I need you."**

**Kev watched JT's unconscious form, but JT showed no outward signs of hearing what Kev had just said.**

"**Please JT," Kev whispered again. "You have to wake up. You can't leave me here alone. I need you… You're… You're my brother."**

**Kev suddenly jumped as JT's grip tightened around his own hand for a second before going limp once more. Kev stared at JT, wide eyed and looked down at his hand in shock. JT really could hear him!**

"**JT please wake up," Kev pleaded. "They're going to take me away. Please JT."**

**Kev watched JT but nothing happened. Blinking rapidly, Kev looked down at his lap and tried not to cry.**

"**They're going to take me away and I'll never see you again," Kev muttered almost to himself. "I don't want to go."**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	77. Chapter 76

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Seventy-six:

**Number One glanced up from where she was sat in Starbase Nine's mess hall. It was quite busy for a late morning, as people hurried to get their breakfast before they were due on shift, but even over the noise of those rushing around her, Number One recognised the sound of JT's laugh.**

**And sure enough JT had just entered the mess hall accompanied by Kev and Charles Tucker III. As she watched they made their way across the mess hall to where T'Pol of Vulcan and her daughter, Elizabeth, were sat at a table alongside Captain Archer.**

**It had been nearly four weeks since JT had been bought to the starbase and he had recovered enough to leave his private room in the medical bay and walk around the starbase, as long as he was accompanied by an adult at all times, in case something happened and he needed to be rushed back to the medical bay.**

**Number One almost smiled as she watched JT greet those who were waiting at the table for him. Archer reached across and shook as his hand, as JT drew level with the table and Elizabeth jumped out of her seat and hugged JT so tight, JT had grasped for breath. **

**And then there was T'Pol.**

**There was something in the way T'Pol looked at JT, which made Number One do a double take. She had never seen so much emotion radiating from a Vulcan before. She looked at JT the same way she looked at her daughter and when she greeted JT, it was in such a gentle and loving way, but at the same time showing absolutely no emotion what so ever.**

**Number One watched as JT sat down at the table, Kev sitting close to his side and T'Pol handed them a bowl of fruit to share. She raised an eyebrow at JT as he pushed the bowl away and pulled a face. **

**The doctors had mentioned how JT wasn't eating nearly as much as they would have liked him to be.**

**And much to Number One's surprise JT slowly reached forward before he quickly snatched a piece of fruit from the bowl, almost like he was expecting someone to take it away from him at any moment and quickly ate it. T'Pol inclined her head to him and her lips twitched into the smallest of smiles.**

**JT reached out and took another piece of fruit under T'Pol's watchful gaze and this time he ate it a fraction slower than he had eaten the previous piece of fruit. And not before long, Kev and JT had both eaten the fruit in the bowl and Malcolm Reed had joined them.**

**He and Charles Tucker III instantly began talking and JT watched them curiously, before he interrupted their conversation and both of them stared at him before Charles Tucker III nodded to Malcolm Reed, who was staring at JT with a look of appreciation.**

**What ever JT had just said clearly impressed both of them and Number One wasn't that surprised. She'd seen JT's educational record. He was a genius. And as she continued to watch, Malcolm Reed pulled out a PADD and moved to sit next to JT, who flinched slightly, before he began pointing out things on the PADD's screen and talking quickly.**

**And while JT was dictated by whatever he was talking to Malcolm Reed about, T'Pol pushed another bowl of fruit across the table and watched with a sense of satisfaction as JT picked up another piece of fruit and ate it as he continued to talk with Malcolm Reed.**

XxX

_Brown watches as Jim quickly informs the officers about what's happening with a series of code words and reference to things that seemed to have no relevance to what was going on or any situation Brown could think off. Maybe Jim's head injury was more serious than she originally thought. But the security officers seemed to get the picture of what was going on._

"_Let's move," Jim mutters as he ends the communication and turns to Brown as the sound of running feet reach their ears._

Jim sees Brown fall before the sound of the shot echoes in his ears. He skids to a halt and stumbles backwards and drops to his knees beside her. She coughs weakly and blood runs down her face from the corner of her mouth.

She looks up at Jim and coughs again, the noise was wet and it almost made Jim want to throw up. It was such a horrible sound, but a sound Jim was familiar with. And as Brown's coughs get weaker and weaker Jim reaches out and takes her hand, only for her to raise her other hand and force her phaser into his palm.

Her eyes seemed to scream at him to run, to live, before she coughs one last time and her body falls still. Blinking back teats Jim turns his head to the side and watches Kodos' men as they approach and for a moment it looks like there are ten of them as he sees double.

Jim raises the phaser with a shaking hand and tries to take aim, hardly noticing how close their shots were coming to him. But before he has a chance to pull the trigger, bodies begin to fall to the ground and a ringing fills Jim's ears and his vision fades out for a moment.

He blinks and suddenly Agent Dragomirov is kneeling in front of him.

"James," Agent Dragomirov greets him.

"It's Jim," Jim answers automatically, wincing suddenly and raising a hand to his head.

Agent Dragomirov studies Jim's head wound for a second before reaching forward and pulling Jim to his feet.

"You need to get that treated," Agent Dragomirov informs him, as he begins to help Jim along the hallway.

Jim nodes and shuts his eyes for a second, only to open them again to find himself lying in a bed in the starbases' medical bay. Forcing himself to sit up, Jim looks around the room. The first thing he notices is that his head is free of pain and he can think clearly again.

The second thing he notices is Cupcake sitting on a bed across the room from him and he smiles in greeting and watches Cupcake give him a quick salute in return, before reaching up to touch his newly stitched head wound.

"Don't touch that," A voice scolds him and a hand knocks his arm back down. "Dr M'Benga has more important things to do than retreat your head wound because you've pulled the stitches off."

Jim looks sideways to see Nurse Chapel giving him a stern look.

"Christine," Jim grins and Nurse Chapel smiles at him before turning away.

"Where is M'Benga?" Jim suddenly asks, looking around the room, but not seeing the doctor and the office on the far side of the room also appeared empty, if the lack of shadows on the other side of the observation window were anything to go by.

"He's gone to talk to Dr McCoy," Nurse Chapel answers. "We didn't have time to call Dr McCoy before we started treating you."

"He's going to kill me," Jim mutters dramatically. "He's actually going to kill me for this."

XxX

**The last thing he could remember was taking a couple of tablet after complaining about having a headache. **

**Then he couldn't breathe. **

**It had been like someone had been strangling him, even though there had been no hands around his neck. **

**And then someone yelling something about an allergic reaction and to call medical immediately. **

**JT's eyes snapped open and he tied to sit up only to find his wrist bound in medical restraints. Instantly the monitor above his bed began screeching as his heart rate suddenly spiked, as he began to panic.**

**He tried to pull his wrists free but the restraints were too tight. **

**Panicking even more JT began to twist violently in an attempt to get his body free in desperation. He hadn't liked what had followed the last time he'd been in restraints.**

**The rational part of his mind knew there must have been a reason the doctors had put him in restraints. They weren't Kang's people. They weren't going to torture him and inject him with hypos loaded with poison. **

**But the panic had taken over all rational parts of his mind.**

**He need to escape and he needed to escape now!**

**Suddenly the door to the room he was in was thrown open and a doctor hurried through the doorway. In the doctors hands was a loaded hypo and he was heading straight towards JT. **

**JT's eyes widened in fear and he let out a scream, filled with terror and desperation.**

**He'd been wrong!**

**They were like Kang's people!**

**With all the strength JT could muster he pulled at his wrists and cried out in pain as he forced his hands free through the too small gap. He could feel the bones in his left hand crutching and breaking as he pulled his hand free. Whilst he could hear the skin of his right hand being ripped off and could feel the wetness of his own blood and it was pulled free.**

**JT didn't hesitate. **

**He kicked the hypo from the doctor's hand and head-butted the doctor as they tried to grab him, ignoring the way blood run down his face and watched with a sense of sick satisfaction as the doctor fell to the floor with a bloody nose, unconscious.**

**JT scrambled off the bed and jumped over the doctor and run out the door into the main part of the starbase's medical ward. He stops for a second in his panicked state as he looked for a way out. **

**He spotted the door and ran towards it.**

**A nurse tried to grab him as he run, so he broke their arm.**

**A second doctor tried to tackle him, but JT dodged and elbowed them in the face as they passed.**

**He made it to the door and a security officer tried to restrain him, so JT shattered their kneecap with one well-placed kick and ran as they collapsed to the floor crying out in agony.**

**There was one thing suffering at the hand of Kodos' men for so long had taught him and that was how to fight dirty.**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	78. Chapter 77

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Seventy-seven:

"**JT?" Kev called out as the crawled along a narrow veneration shaft he was sure was going to lead him to where JT was hiding.**

"**Kev?" An echoing voice called from ahead of him.**

**Kev smiled to himself and crawled as fast as he could, until he came to an open vent, which lead into a small crawl space, far too small to be comfortable for a fully grown adult. JT was sitting on the far side of the crawl space, looking out a small viewport into the vastness of space.**

"**JT!" Kiev exclaimed, as he dropped down into the crawl space and sat across from JT.**

**JT turned his head to the side and looked at Kev.**

"**Hey, Kev," JT muttered.**

"**You missed it," Kev said after a moment of silence.**

"**Missed what?" JT asked.**

"**Dr Phlox getting angry," Kev answered. "You know you broke that doctor's nose? Well Dr Phlox got really angry at him and started yelling at him in the middle of the sick bay. I couldn't understand most of what he was saying, I think he must have been speaking another language."**

**JT raises an eyebrow slightly at Kev, "Dr Phlox is a Denobulan, Kev."**

"**Right," Kev nodded. "But anyway he really did get angry at that doctor… It was kinda scary."**

**JT nodded and looked back out in to the vastness of space.**

"**You know Kev," JT suddenly spoke up. "I won't be able to stop them from taking you away… They're you grandparents, Kev, they just want what's best for you."**

"**How can you say that, JT?!" Kev demanded. "They want to take me away and stop me from ever seeing you again!"**

"**They think they are doing the right thing Kev," JT argued. "Did you even try talking to them before you ran away? Because I'm sure they'd have listen to you and even if they didn't, once you're sixteen, you'd be able to do whatever you wanted and they wouldn't be able to stop you."**

**JT paused for a moment before continuing.**

"**What would have happened if they hadn't been able to save me and they had been attacked by Kang's men and killed and you had been caught? I wouldn't have been able to save you, Kev. You would have died. They would have made me watch you die!"**

**Kev bowed his head.**

"**I'm sorry, JT," Kev mumbled. "But you're my family, even if we ain't related by blood." **

"**We'll be blood brothers?" JT told Kev.**

"**Blood brothers?" Kev asked.**

"**Yeah," JT replied, holding out his hand. "Come here."**

**Kev shuffled over so he was sitting right next to JT. Reaching across JT took one of Kev's hands in his own and pulled out a knife. Kev watched curiously as JT drew the knife across this palm leaving a bleeding wound in its wake, before doing the same to one of this own hands.**

**JT moved and grabbed Kev's bleeding hand in his own, so both their palms were against the others and their blood mixed.**

"**I swear that I'll find you," JT muttered. "And that I will never forget about you. And I will always protect you. It is sworn in blood, my brother."**

**JT quickly let go of Kev's hand and ripped the arm of his sleeve and held out the fabric for Kev to wrap around his bleeding palm.**

XxX

"_Where is M'Benga?" Jim suddenly asks, looking around the room, but not seeing the doctor and the office on the far side of the room also appeared empty, if the lack of shadows on the other side of the observation window were anything to go by._

"_He's gone to talk to Dr McCoy," Nurse Chapel answers. "We didn't have time to call Dr McCoy before we started treating you."_

"_He's going to kill me," Jim mutters dramatically. "He's actually going to kill me for this."_

"What happened?" Tom asks, as Jim sits down beside him.

"Kodos' men," Jim answers.

Tom stares at Jim wide eyed.

"They're here?" Tom demands.

"They're dead," Jim answers.

"God damn it, Jim!" McCoy growls, as he drops into the seat beside Jim and begins examining the butterfly stitches which were holding Jim's head injury closed.

"Nice to see you to, Bones," Jim grins.

McCoy just glares at him and Jim grins wider.

"Umm, captain," Sulu speaks up nervously.

"Yes, lieutenant," Jim answers, turning his attention to Sulu.

"We just wanted to say we're sorry," Sulu explains.

"Aye, laddie," Scotty agrees. "We shouldn't have done it."

"Eet was not our right to know," Chekov agrees.

Jim nodes in agreement, "It wasn't."

Out the corner of his eye he saw Uhura move forward only to be stopped by Spock placing at hand on her shoulder. Jim shut his eyes for a second and takes a deep breath. He needed to learn to trust people and not just with his life, but with his secrets too. They were his crew and his friends… No they were his family. He needed to trust them, like they trusted him.

"I'm sorry," Jim suddenly speaks up. "I shouldn't have gotten angry like I did before."

"Captain-" Spock begins.

"No, Spock," Jim cuts him off. "I shouldn't have reacted the way I did… I'm just glad Tom stopped before I said something I'd regret... If we'd been on a mission and the truth about Taurus had been exposed, it would have compromised me as captain…"

Jim stops talking for a moment and rubs a hand across his face.

"There are going to be missions in the future, no doubt, which are going to have similarities to Tarsus or be linked to Tarsus in some way. God forbid anyone outside of Starfleet ever finds out about Tarsus… The press would have a field day with that! So as my crew, as my friends, as my family, you need to know about it."

Jim's command crew sit in a stunned silence for a moment, simply staring at their captain, while McCoy rolls his eye and folds his arms over his chest.

"I can't promise you I'll be able to tell you about everything, because there are just some things I don't talk about. I never have and I never will. But if you want to know, just ask, don't go behind my back. Because if I don't want you to know about something, there's a reason I don't want you to know about it… Oh and there's one more thing you should know. Kevin Riley isn't really dead."

XxX

**Number One sat at a desk in a small private office hidden away in a secluded part of Starbase Nine, as she filled out a form on her PADD. It had come to her attention that T'Pol and Charles Tucker III wanted to adopt JT.**

**And Number One, having watched JT with them for just over five weeks now, couldn't think of anyone better to take JT in.**

**As much as she felt the need to protect JT, like she had failed to do in the past, there was no way she'd be able to raise JT. She was the head of Starfleet Intelligence, her job was dangerous and took up a lot of her time and attention.**

**She'd be depriving JT of a loving home, as she'd hardly ever be there so he'd be in the care of babysitters most of the time and that wasn't what he needed. He needed a stable environment to heal in, with parents who would be there for him all the time and that wasn't something Number One would be able to provide him with.**

**But T'Pol and Charles Tucker III could.**

**And they had already clearly shown that was what they intended to do.**

**It was clear to Number One, both of them cared for JT a great deal. They had risked their lives to track him down and save him. They had gone against Starfleet's wishes and gone out of their way to rescue him and by doing so, they'd been putting their careers on the line.**

**They loved him, it was as simple as that. **

**Number One smiled slightly as she signed off on the form. Being the head of Starfleet Intelligence did have some advantages. By this time tomorrow T'Pol and Charles Tucker III would be JT's legal guardians and adoptive parents.**

**But of course they wouldn't know that, not until they had completed the 'official' paper work.**

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry this chapter is shorter than the previous chapters. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	79. Chapter 78

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Seventy-eight:

**Kev stood side by side with JT as he waited for his grandparents to arrive. Unlike Archer and Elizabeth, they hadn't been unable to get emergency transportation and had been forced to wait for the next shuttle with unreserved seats. **

**They were due to be arriving in the next half an hour and Kev was almost shaking from the nerves. He had no idea how his grandparents were going to would, but he knew he was going to be in a lot of trouble for sure. JT had promised to stay with him until they arrived and he was sure Kev was going to be okay.**

**Gathered across the waiting area from them T'Pol, Trip and Elizabeth were waiting for JT. **

**As soon as Kev was safely in the care of his grandparents and ready to return to Earth, they would be leaving and traveling to Vulcan, where JT would be seeing a mind healer before they then travelled on to the planet Deneva****, ****where**** T'Pol**** owned a medium sized residence.**

**Keg suddenly grabbed JT's arm.**

"**That's them," Kev whispered, pointing across the waiting area to where those who had just arrived at the starbase were entering the waiting area.**

**JT watched the couple as they approached them. They were both in their seventies, with grey hair and wrinkles looking positively harmless, but Kev still hadn't let go of JT's arm.**

"**It'll be fine, Kev," JT muttered.**

**Kev nodded but still didn't let go of JT's arm.**

"**Kevin," JT's grandmother scolded him, in a strong Irish accent. "Do you have any idea what you have put us through?!"**

"**No, ma'am," Kev answered, causing JT to do a double take.**

**Why would Kev call his grandmother 'ma'am'? They were family and 'ma'am' was a very formal title, but maybe that was how being a normal family worked. JT had never meet his grandparents, as they had all died before he had been born, so he never really had the problem of what he should call them and it wasn't like his mum had ever really been around to tell him those types of things when he was young anyway.**

**Kev's grandmother shook her head and stared at Kev sternly.**

"**I had hoped your mother would have taught you better," She sounded disappointed.**

**Kev simply glared at his grandmother but didn't say anything.**

"**Well don't just stand there, boy," His grandmother scolded him again. "We have a return shuttle to catch. Go get your things."**

**Kev turned to face JT and JT pulled him into a tight hug.**

"**We'll see each other again, I promise," JT muttered in Kev's ear.**

**Kev nodded and pulled back and gave JT a watery smile.**

"**I look forward to it, brother," Kev replied.**

**JT smiled, "Promise you'll talk to them and not just run away again?"**

"**I will," Kev promised.**

**They stared at each for a moment more before stepping forward and embracing each other once more and JT didn't bother to try and hide the tears which were rolling down his face.**

XxX

"_I can't promise you I'll be able to tell you about everything, because there are just some things I don't talk about. I never have and I never will. But if you want to know, just ask, don't go behind my back. Because if I don't want you to know about something, there's a reason I don't want you to know about it… Oh and there's one more thing you should know. Kevin Riley isn't really dead."_

"I still can't believe your hare-brained scheme actually worked," McCoy almost growls, as he walks side by side with Jim. "Do you have any idea how dangerous Death Dust is?! If you'd given Riley the wrong dosage, you would have killed him!"

"What was I supposed to do, Bones?" Jim asks. "If Kodos' men had found Kev alive they would have killed him! Kodos only wanted me alive. His men would have killed Kev simply because they could."

"I still can't believe you could be that stupid," McCoy mutters. "No, scratch that, I can."

Jim just laughs and grabs hold of McCoy's shoulder and squeezes it, before dropping his arm back down to his side.

"Captain," A voice behind them causes Jim to stop.

Turning Jim spots Carol Marcus heading towards them.

"May I have a word with you privately, captain?" Carol asks, as she draws level with Jim and McCoy.

"Of course," Jim answers, before turning to McCoy. "You go ahead, Bones, I'll catch up with you."

McCoy stares at Jim for a moment before nodding to Carol and continuing on his way.

"What's up?" Jim asks Carol once McCoy has disappeared down the hallway.

"I put in a request to be transferred," Carol explains. "And it's been approved."

Jim stares at Carol for a moment, "Why?"

"Someone needs to stay with Tom," Carol explains. "And there's a project I've been meaning to start working on for a while."

"I understand and thank you," Jim nodes. "Take care of him."

Carol smiles, "I will."

The two of them share a quick embrace.

"Right," Jim mutters. "I've got to go, the Enterprise is due to leave in less than three hours."

Carol nodes, "Stay safe, captain."

Jim grins at her and Carol rolls her eyes before walking off back the way she had come.

Turning, Jim carries on the way he had been heading, when a hand suddenly grabs and pulls him sideways and into a disused room.

"Gaila," Jim greets, with a sly grin.

Gaila smiles at him before pushing Jim back into the now closed door and claiming his lips with her own.

"I'm due on the bridge in just over an hour," Jim mutters, as he and Gaila break apart.

"We've got plenty of time then," Gaila laughs and they two of them kiss again.

XxX

**Number One watched as JT went to board the ship T'Pol and Charles Tucker III owned. Elizabeth was hanging onto one of his hands while JT was pointing out the different ships which were in view from the walkway they were walking along to the ship.**

**She knew she had made the right choice.**

**T'Pol and Charles Tucker III had already shown they cared for JT just as much as they cared about their own daughter and Number One could still remember JT's reaction when he had found out T'Pol and Charles Tucker III had adopted him.**

**He been so shocked, he hadn't believed them at first. **

**He had refused to believe it. **

**Why would someone care for him? He was just a screw up, whose own mother couldn't even stand to look at for the first seven years of his life. He was a human being Kodos didn't deem worthy of living… **

**He was useless.**

**He was worthless.**

**So why would anyone care enough to adopt him? And both T'Pol and Charles Tucker III had been quick to put those thoughts to rest and once JT was really sure they wanted him, he'd been over the moon with happiness. He had even cried, he had been so happy that someone really did care about him.**

**And Number One knew while JT was in the care of T'Pol and Charles Tucker III, he'd make a full recovery, both physically and mentally. They were exactly what JT needed and both Malcolm Reed and Dr Phlox were joining them, he couldn't have been safer anywhere else.**

**Turning away, Number One began walking back towards her private room deeper within the starbase. She had a job to get back to and a fiancé by the name of Christopher Pike to get back to too. She had already been away too long. Keeping her head held high, Number One refused to look back over her shoulder. **

**She had already shown too much of an interest in JT publicly and it was time she employed some damage control. It would do JT no good if someone trying to get to her worked out they could use him as leverage… Even if they did have to get past T'Pol of Vulcan first and one of the best tactical officer of all time.**

"**Number One!" A voice called.**

"**Agent Dragomirov," Number One answered, turning to face him.**

"**Kang Tugllar has been found," Agent Dragomirov informed her.**

"**Good," Number One.**

"**But there's a problem, madam," Agent Dragomirov added. "Section 31 captured him."**

"**I'll put in a request to have him transferred to us," Number One answered. "They will not be able to refuse… There's something troubling you, Agent Dragomirov."**

"**There is, madam," Agent Dragomirov answered. "There's a rumour spreading that section 31 is dabbling in eugenics… That they are trying to create super humans."**

**Number One looked at Agent Dragomirov sharply, "Who is currently in charge of Section 31?"**

"**Alexander Marcus," Agent Dragomirov replied.**

"**Keep an eye on him," Number One ordered. "He's been determined to start a war with the Klingons ever since he made captain." **

XxX

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


	80. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Epilogue:

In the year 2246, a fungus infected and killed many of the crops grown on the planet Tarsus IV.

A colony of eight thousand people suddenly found themselves with little to no food and limited rations.

Or so Starfleet told the federation public.

Governor Kodos was in power at the time.

He came up with a plan.

He created two lists.

If your name was on the first list, you lived.

If your name was on the second list, you died.

Four thousand lived.

Four thousand died.

Well… Three thousands nine hundred and ninety-one colonists died in the massacre.

Nine children survived.

The oldest was fourteen.

The youngest was three.

Many died in the months that followed.

But the nine children survived.

They became the known as 'The Tarsus Nine'.

The only ones to have seen Kodos face to face and live to tell the tale.

Once they had been recused they thought they were finally safe.

One disappeared and is dead, their body has only just been discovered… Well skeleton.

One fell to their death, after being pushed from a bridge by a man working for Kodos.

One was killed in a traffic collision, after a car being driven by women working for Kodos drove in to them.

One died of an incurable disease, after contracting the disease whilst visiting a hospital where a man working for Kodos just happened to work.

One drowned, after being held under the water by a man working for Kodos.

One was killed after being in the wrong place at the wrong time, it didn't help a woman working for Kudos also happened to be there.

One is alive and is one of the greatest research scientist alive to date.

One is alive and is an engineer aboard the USS Enterprise, the chief engineers second in command.

One is alive and is the Captain of the USS Enterprise.

Kodos men tried to kill them all, but three survived.

Maybe this time they'll really be safe…

After all Kodos has been sentenced to life imprisonment in a 'rehabilitation colony for the criminally insane' until he is deemed sane and can face a retrial for his crimes.

XxX

Hey! Thank you everyone who has favourited, followed and reviewed this story and I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it.

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997**.**


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